Europe

Drugmaker Sanofi charged with manslaughter over birth defects

Issued on: 03/08/2020 – 15:37

French prosecutors have indicted pharma giant Sanofi for manslaughter over birth defects linked to an epilepsy drug, the company said Monday, in a long-running case that has also seen it charged with fraud.

Advertising

Read more

The charges relate to the drug valproate, marketed as Depakine among other trade names, which studies say has caused disabilities in about 15,000-30,000 children whose mothers took the medicine while pregnant.

On the market since 1967, the drug is used to treat epilepsy, migraines and bipolar disorder.

But research found that when pregnant women took the drug, their children had an elevated risk — between 10 to 40 percent — of congenital malformations, autism and learning difficulties.

Sanofi is facing separate charges of aggravated fraud and unintentionally causing injury in 42 cases filed by families, but insists it had warned health authorities of the drug's risks already in the 1980s.

On Monday, the company confirmed a report in Le Monde newspaper that prosecutors have now also charged it with manslaughter.

But in a statement sent to AFP it insisted it had "fulfilled its obligation" of providing information on the drug and its side-effects, and said it "contests the validity of these proceedings."

Sanofi said it has filed a legal challenge to the indictment.

Under the French legal system, charges do not automatically result in a trial as prosecutors can decide not to proceed based on a lack of evidence.

Last month, a French court ordered the state to pay thousands of euros in damages over the scandal, saying officials should have ensured the drug was not taken by pregnant women.

The court found that health officials knew about the risk of birth defects from Depakine already in 1983, aRead More – Source

[contf]
[contfnew]

france24

[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]

Related Articles

Europe

Spain holidays: Britons turn their back on Benidorm – ‘keep our money in our country’

express– BENIDORM business owners have shared their struggles after a lack of...

Europe

Why Portugal fears a backlash if Trump is re-elected US president

If the diplomatic spat between Portugal and the United States is anything...

Europe

Vienna attacker acted alone and had tried to join so-called Islamic State, say authorities

The man who killed four people in a shooting rampage in Vienna...

Europe

Coronavirus: Italy has highest daily death toll in six months, Hungary, Netherlands set new measures

Italy recorded its highest daily COVID-19 death toll in nearly six months...