It is a decision that gives hope to the victims of Pick. The Paris administrative court of appeal confirmed the State’s responsibility towards one of the victims.
Martine Verdier, the lawyer for this victim, had already obtained a series of judgments in this direction, paving the way for compensation from her client. The state then appealed, but ultimately, it is still considered responsible.
According to the administrative court of appeal, AFFSAPS, the former drug agency is responsible for not having withdrawn the drug as of July 7, 1999, when the benefit / risk ratio of the drug was no longer favorable. The national pharmacovigilance commission had indeed mentioned the side effects of benfluorex, the active ingredient of the Mediator from Servier laboratories.
One case of hypertension and one case of cardiac valve disease both attributable to the active molecule had been identified and reported. But while the withdrawal should have taken place in 1999, it was not finally effective until 10 years later, in 2009.
In 1999, “the imbalance between the major risks associated with the use of the Mediator and the interest that it could present for public health was sufficiently obvious that the failure to take appropriate measures, which could not be be that the suspension or withdrawal of the marketing authorization of the Mediator […], must be regarded as a fault likely to engage the state responsibility “, According to the judgment made public by AFP. In other words, the State is indeed responsible, and this even if the company Servier producing the Mediator had proceeded to conceal the information and to “wrongful or even fraudulent acts.” The standoff should therefore now take place between the State and the Servier laboratories, unless the State decides once again to oppose this decision and to appeal in cassation before the Council of State.
A hope of compensation for the victims
For the victims, the fact that the State is partly responsible gives hope for compensation within a period of one year, provided that “the causal link between the pathology and the damage suffered” is proven.
Used by five million people in France, the Mediator is the cause of heart valve lesions and could be responsible for 2,100 deaths in the long term, according to a legal expert cited by Ouest-France.
The drug was prescribed for about thirty years, first to prevent excess fat in the blood, and then for overweight diabetics. It has also been misused for its appetite suppressant properties.
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