” who is he mocking it ? “Less than half an hour after having started the indictment, on 23 June, in the morning, Aude Le Guilcher plant his eyes in those of the defence lawyers of the group, Servier, continued to be marketed for 33 years with a toxic product under the brand name Mediator.
The prosecutor did not conceal his irritation. In the Face of defendants and their counsel that, since the beginning of the debates on the 23rd of September last, throw discredit on the investigators, accusing them of a ” statement in support “, thus trying to absolve herself of any responsibility in the death of several hundred people, the representative of the prosecution takes precedence. She denounces the speech “complotistes” developed on the benches of the accused.
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” Incompetent “, “liar”
In the room, where a dozen employees and consultants of the pharmaceutical companies have taken their ease on the benches that are traditionally reserved to the press, one feels a slight wince. Laurent Boussu, coordinator of the regiment of experts mobilized in the service of the lawyers of the group, is silent. Him who did not hesitate in the previous days, to comment aloud to the argument of the counsel for victims, calling it, in their backs, a lawyer from the province of” incompetent “and a tenor of the bar” a liar ” ; he who, at each adjournment of the hearing, spun confer with the defendants to advise them… here, it’s a pipe not a word.
“who is he mocking it ?” repeated the magistrate, referring to the “manoeuvres” of the group Servier to present himself as a victim, a form of contrivance. “The defense has been criticized by many protagonists of the case did not have alerted [the authorities against the dangers of Mediator], so that the firm has never done so, although that has complete information about his product,” tip-t-it.
” who owned it in the first place, to make the link between benfluorex [the name of the active principle of a Mediator], and the fenfluramines [involved in two other hunger suppressant developed by Servier and withdrawn from the market for their harmful side-effects] ? Who owned it in the first place to remove this product the benefit of the safety of patients ? Laboratories Servier, of course ! No one knows a drug that the product ” creaks-t-it.
Trial non-standard
Coincidence, it’s nine months to the day after the start of the trial the most important of the decade, as Aude Le Guilcher requires, in this June 23, the punishments that she intends to see imposed on the group, Servier, in one of its former leaders, Jean-Philippe Seta, but also the Agency of the drug. To his side, another prosecutor of the Republic, Cristina Mauro, rereads his notes. She will make her own indictment of the experts of the Agency held on June 24.
In this June 23, therefore, Aude Le Guilcher will talk for nine hours, before detailing the sanctions it is seeking from the president of the 31st chamber of the tribunal correctionnel of Paris. In the end, nearly 8.4 million euro fine that it will require against the companies of the group Servier. And five years imprisonment, of which three firm, against Jean-Philippe Seta, the former number two. But only 245 000 euros fine against the Agency of the drug.
Requisitions severe
If these requisitions appear harsh to the accused, they seem to disappoint some of the victims. Many were those who hoped the withdrawal of the accreditation of laboratories, depriving them of exercise in France. Charles Joseph Oudin had suggested in his oral argument, on June 18, where he had invited the court to “banging, banging and banging” the group Servier. “The French market represents only 5% of the activity of the laboratories. A suspension in france is not finally so terrible for the company, ” he argued, at the bar.
The prosecutor did not follow-up. And it justifies its decision. “We are not calling penalties that would have for consequences to punish the employees and creditors of the companies prevented “, is it worth it to explain. A little earlier in the day, she had prepared the victims to this idea. “There will be no dissolution of the society, although some have claimed because the texts which relate to offences committed do not provide. […] This may create the disappointment “, she said.
Deliberate in next January
The court’s decision will not be known until January 2021. But the lawyers who have succeeded at the helm since June 9, are also seeking significant damages : more than 460 million euros in total for only the direct victims of the Mediator. “This may seem like a lot. The 2,200 victims that I represent are demanding, there is nothing to it, 225 million euros in respect of prejudice of anxiety. But it is necessary to have in mind what is this anxiety : the fear to see occur in the victims of a deadly disease caused by what they believed to be a drug. An anxiety that is due to the fear of dying much earlier because of the Mediator “, stated Jean-Christophe Coubris, 22 June. Which was keen to add that “this amounts to little more than 15 euros per day and per person…”
the actions of The laboratoires Servier, such as the failures of the Agency of the drug, potentially, put at risk 5 million consumers of Mediator. If the public prosecutor does not call for a punishment much more reduced against the Agency : a fine of 200 000 euros for manslaughter, to which are added four fines of 5,000 euros each in respect of the unintentional injuries that resulted in a temporary interruption of work (ITT) and 52 fines of 500 euros each for the injuries without the ITT, it is” on [her] reproach of negligence, not deliberate acts, ” explains the prosecutor.
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In the courtroom, so full that it had to open an “annex”, where his speech was broadcast by video, the magistrate hints at the heavy burden of responsibility that weighed on his shoulders at the time of drafting its conclusions. On the morning of 23 June, Aude Le Guilcher has also emphasized the emotion that was hers at the time of ” represent the interests of the company, the general interest and to support the prosecution in this trial non-standard “.
Aude Le Guilcher was obliged to pay tribute to the courage of Irene Frachon, present in the room surrounded by victims. But she has also summoned a ghost : that of Jacques Servier. “Her death, a unique opportunity presented itself to make a clean sweep [of the past] to make a fresh start on new bases. But the demise of the founder, has nothing changed within the group Servier “, she regretted. Before adding : “The method Servier, during all these years, has not changed. It was drown an important piece of information [the toxicity of benfluorex] in a document without ever the highlight. This reflects the complicated relationship of the firm to the reality, which is a central element in this case. “At these words, no one knows the grin that made the lawyers of the group Servier. They wore a mask. But they will deliver their arguments in defense from next week.
