Following the confirmation, by the Paris tribunal de grande instance, of the closure of the Garches pediatric oncology service, the parents mobilized again and seized the Council of State.
On July 24, the Paris tribunal de grande instance ruled. The pediatric oncology center Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine) will close its doors in August. Sick children will go to the Ambroise-Paré hospital unit in Boulogne. But the parents decided to seize the Council of State to oppose this decision.
One last hope for parents
The judgment rendered by the Paris tribunal de grande instance, following the appeal filed on 1er July by Dr. Nicole Delépine, head of the service, dealt a blow to the mobilization of parents, who want the maintenance of the center, praising the unusual, but effective methods of the oncologist.
The tribunal de grande instance had agreed to examine the file in an appeal committee, but its final, irrevocable decision specifies that “the existence of an assault [une faute grave de l’administration] is not demonstrated ”. The last option of the parents and of Dr. Delépine: to seize the ultimate judge of the administrations, the Council of State, hoping that it renders a different verdict. It has been done since today.
Towards a European remedy
The service was renewed in 2009 for five years, but this time, in April, the Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) made public its decision to close it definitively, and to transfer the pediatric oncology service. from Garches hospital to Ambroise-Paré hospital in Boulogne.
A closure that comes as the therapeutic methods of Dr. Delépine are increasingly debated, deemed not to comply with standard protocols. The oncologist is opposed in particular to new methodologies which recommend the use of innovative molecules, and proposes a treatment based on the methotrexate molecule, a method that has existed for thirty years.
The lawyers of the Ametist association, who represent the parents, explained that they had high expectations of the highest legal body of French administrative law. Because if the closure was confirmed by the Council of State, the parents could no longer continue their legal fight at the national level. On the other hand, an appeal lodged with the European Court of Human Rights could lead to a verdict in their favor, and this must apply in France.
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