between relief and disappointment, the mixed feelings of the victims

It is the end of a very long legal fight. Servier laboratories were found guilty on Monday of “aggravated deception”, “homicides” and “unintentional injuries” and sentenced to a 2.7 million euros fine in the scandal of the Mediator, an anti-diabetic hijacked as an appetite suppressant and marketed for more than 30 years, despite its toxicity. The National Medicines Safety Agency will have to pay a fine of more than 300,000 euros. It is therefore the epilogue of the Mediator trial, a drug held responsible for hundreds of deaths.

“The time is for the satisfaction of the conviction”

“It is a relief for all the victims. The laboratory has been recognized as responsible and has been condemned. I am extremely happy with this long journey which has resulted in a conviction”, reacted Master Jean-Christophe Coubris, the lawyer of more than 2,000 civil parties, at the microphone of Europe 1. “The sanction of a laboratory is already important. The sums that have been allocated, even if they are not as high as what we would like, are coherent. Today, the time is for the satisfaction of the conviction, even if the penalties and the penal sanctions are also moderate. But it can be that also a moderate justice. It makes sense and it is to us to get this message across to the victims. The fight is so difficult, “he said.

Harsh and unambiguous words from the tribunal against Servier laboratories

For the victims and their families, the feeling is more mixed, between relief and disappointment. However, the court had harsh and unambiguous words against the Servier laboratories, which committed “a fraud of a considerable and unprecedented scale”. “They weakened confidence in the health system because they had known the risks of the Mediator for many years. And yet, the Servier laboratories have maintained its marketing against all odds,” said the president. “Result: they deceived the consumers of this drug,” she continued.

Words were also harsh towards the Medicines Agency, which did not play its role of health police. Its director, Christelle Ratignier-Carbonneil, took note of this judgment: “Everything was well judged and we contributed to the manifestation of the truth and in order to be able to assume our responsibility of public establishments. The law of 2011 created a agency which is different so that such a tragedy cannot happen again, “she told Europe 1.

Apart from these convictions for criminal fines, the Servier laboratories will have to pay more than 180 million euros in compensation to the victims, just like the former right-hand man of Jacques Servier, who will also have to pay millions of euros to the victims. civil parties. He was sentenced to four years in prison.