The Mediator not mentioned under Villepin in Matignon
According to the press, doctors from the Burgundy health insurance had alerted the Medicines Agency in March 1998 in a report of the very high cost of the Mediator for the community as well as of its "effectiveness" and its "safety".
The end of year celebrations do not stop the controversy over the Mediator. Monday, December 27, Le Figaro reports that doctors from the Health Insurance of the Burgundy region had alerted the Medicines Agency in March 1998 in a report of the very high cost of the Mediator for the community as well as its "effectiveness" and its "security". For the Burgundy region alone, the bill for Social Security amounted to 4 million francs per year, according to this document sent to the Medicines Agency. Mediator, a drug intended for overweight diabetics and widely used as an appetite suppressant, was marketed in France from 1976 to November 2009, when it was withdrawn from the market. Used by five million people, it could be responsible for at least 500 to 2,000 deaths, according to estimates. Between 1999 and 2009, it cost 423 million euros to Social Security and complementary health, according to a confidential note from Unocam, which brings together insurance federations and complementary health mutuals.
From 500 to 2,000 deaths
The National Health Insurance Fund (Cnam) "will assert its rights" in legal proceedings that would be brought by victims of the Mediator against its manufacturer, Servier laboratories, said the director of the Fund, Frédéric Van Roekeghem on Saturday. "We will be extremely attentive to the legal developments in this case. As in other cases, such as allergenic chairs, Medtronic probes or more recently breast implants," he explained. In cases like these, "we consider that the care provided does not have to be funded by the community," he continued. Dominique de Villepin told him on RTL that the Mediator problem had "never been mentioned to Matignon" at the Mediator, a drug intended for overweight diabetics and widely used as an appetite suppressant, was marketed in France from 1976 to November 2009, when it was withdrawn from the market. Used by five million people, it could be responsible for at least 500 to 2,000 deaths, according to estimates.
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