The families of the Depakine victims will be “vigilant” on the promised compensation fund, so that it does not forget any victim, they said after an interview with the ministry.
“We reminded the Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, that it was essential that all the victims be taken care of in this fund, without date restriction – from the marketing in 1967 until today – and without a restrictive mechanism depending on the severity of the damage, ”said Mr. Charles Joseph-Oudin, the main lawyer for the victims of sodium valproate, the active substance of Depakine.
During a meeting organized at the Ministry of Health on Thursday, Marine Martin, president of theAssociation to help parents of children suffering from anti-convulsant syndrome (Apesac), also “confirmed its desire for the compensation fund to be set up quickly, in the course of 2017,” said the lawyer.
Sanofi should participate in the compensation
In comments reported by theFrance Media Agency (AFP), he concluded that “we remain extremely vigilant on the scope and the mechanisms, including very subtle ones, of this compensation fund to be created”. In this regard, the lawyer, like the families of the victims, provides an important clarification: “Ms. Touraine has made a commitment to us that Sanofi participate in the compensation”.
Me Joseph-Oudin even revealed that two systems are still under study: “The government could either ask the French laboratory to take charge of part of the compensation fund, or compensate the victims itself before taking action. turn against Sanofi, ”he explained. In a recent interview on RTL, the tenant of avenue Duquesne (Paris) confided: “I am for those who are responsible to pay”. It remains now to establish the responsibilities in this matter …
As a reminder, the practical issues of the compensation fund are still under negotiation. Apesac awaits the report of the two magistrates in charge of the case who will propose concrete modalities. The fund will then be discussed in Parliament in October and voted definitively in December with the finance law, according to the wishes of the Minister of Health. The latter has, moreover, confirmed the re-evaluation of 21 other antiepileptics, we learn in a press release from Apesac.
Depakine figures
14,322 is the number of pregnancies exposed to Depakine between 2007 and 2014. A high number, while this antiepileptic is not recommended for pregnant women because of its teratogenic effects. And yet, 8,701 babies were born alive during this time. A report from the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) estimated for the first time the extent of the phenomenon associated with sodium valproate.
The number of victims has not yet been communicated. It is the subject of a second work. The epidemiologist from the Institut Gustave-Roussy (Villejuif, Val-de-Marne), Catherine Hill, did not wait for his results.
According to its estimates, 50,000 pregnancies under Depakine, Dépakote or generics were carried out between 1983 and 2015, giving rise to 30,000 live births. 3,000 people would suffer from malformations and 12,000 from neurodevelopmental disorders.
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