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Mediator° - the criminal trial

What's at stake

 Mediator°  France's Mediator° trial reveals a cosy relationship between representatives of the French drug regulatory agency and an influential company

The trial revealed how representatives of the agency, external experts charged with drug evaluation, and the company were constantly trying to come to a consensus, leading to a delay in the decision to withdraw Mediator° from the market. (December 2021)

 Mediator°  France’s Mediator° trial: Servier and the French drug regulatory agency convicted and sentenced

There will be appeal proceedings. (June 2021)

 Mediator°  Mediator°: norfenfluramine at the heart of the trial

The verdict in France's Mediator° criminal trial was handed down at the end of March 2021, twelve years after this drug, which caused several hundreds of people to die from pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) or heart valve disease, was withdrawn from the French market. (April 2021)

 Mediator°  All wrong from the very start

In June 2020, at the end of France's Mediator° trial, the two prosecutors concluded that all the defendants were guilty of the offences with which they were charged. The judges' ruling is expected for 2021. (December 2020)

 Editorial  Mediator°... now what?

There are still many lessons to be learned from the Mediator° disaster. It requires determination. We must face reality head-on. The ongoing trial provides the opportunity to do so. In the courtroom, and beyond... (October 2019)

 The Mediator° disaster  Drug-induced heart valve disease: a blind spot for cardiologists

Exposure to benfluorex (Mediator°) caused hundreds of deaths in France, in particular from heart valve disease. Before the withdrawal of Mediator°, many cardiologists attributed these drug-induced valve disorders to other causes, often rheumatic heart disease, even though rheumatic fever had long since become very rare. (June 2020)

 The Mediator° disaster  Creating awareness around conflicts of interest

Media coverage of the Mediator° disaster in 2010-2011 opened the public’s eyes to the conflicts of interest of many experts working for the French drug regulatory agency. Have health care professionals realised that these conflicts damage credibility, patient confidence and quality of care?

 The criminal trial  Servier and French drug regulatory agency on trial

In France, ten years after the market withdrawal of Mediator° (benfluorex), an amphetamine-like drug which caused several hundred deaths, the trial relating to the criminal aspects of this disaster began at the Paris High Court in September 2019 and is expected to last for six months. Who are the defendants? What charges have been brought against them? (October 2019)

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