A small victory for the victims of Mediator at war with the Servier laboratory. Two patients aged 72 and 76 won their case. The tribunal de grande instance (TGI) of Nanterre recognized the civil liability of Servier laboratories, for having left on the market a “defective” drug of which they could not “ignore the risks”, according to the terms of the court.
The TGI ordered the Servier laboratory to pay the two people respectively 27,350 and 10,000 euros in compensation. The two men had been exposed to Mediator (molecule: benfluorex), an anti-diabetic drug diverted as an appetite suppressant and at the origin of valve disease and other heart disorders.
The court established that when the drug was prescribed to the two patients, in 2003 and 2006, “the state of scientific knowledge did not allow to ignore the risks of pulmonary arterial hypertension and valve disease induced by benfluorex “, and that these potential risks should have forced the laboratory to” inform patients and health professionals, “said the court, quoted by AFP.
The Servier laboratory reacted to the announcement of the judgment by affirming that it took note of it while reserving “the possibility of appealing”, he said. in a press release. He takes care to specify that he has already paid “14 million euros to compensate patients within the framework of amicable agreements and without any conviction”.
Servier “undertakes to compensate” each victim
Accused by the victims’ lawyers and by Irène Frachon (the whistleblower who revealed the scandal in 2009, editor’s note) of doing everything to slow down the compensation process victims, the laboratory defends itself: “Servier confirms its commitment to compensate each patient whose damage is linked to treatment by the Mediator and will continue to do so independently of legal proceedings relating to its liability”.
More 1000 compensation files of Mediator victims have been validated to date, according to theNational Medical Accident Compensation Office (Oniam).
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