A gastroenterologist from Nîmes was taken into custody and indicted for “fraud, deception presenting a medical danger, carrying out unauthorized medical research and unintentional injuries”. The doctor allegedly gave illegal injections to 515 patients suffering from obesity between 2011 and 2015, according to the first elements of the survey.
What are the charges? At the polyclinic of the Great South where he worked, the doctor would have treated patients wishing to lose weight by injecting them withhyaluronic acid. However, this product is used in cosmetic surgery procedures and injections of this treatment cannot fight obesity. This fraudulent and dangerous practice was carried out on patients under general anesthesia through injections into the stomach, supposed to reduce the feeling of hunger. One of the patients suffering from complications and hospitalized at the University Hospital of Nîmes allowed the report of the doctor and the initiation of this case.
Falsified acts transmitted to the Social Security
The list of potential victims could grow longer. To facilitate their identification, an email address has been made available to them: ddsp30-victimehyalu@interieur.gouv.fr.
The gastroenterologist would have mounted this juicy affair to the detriment of the patients. According to the investigators of the financial brigade of Gard, taken up by France Evening, the damage would be estimated at nearly 600,000 euros. “These acts were presented as endoscopy acts, this doctor passed them through the CPAM (primary health insurance fund), then he made patients pay for the product, then fees for exceeding fees”, specifies an investigator quoted by the newspaper.
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