Drugs giant Servier convicted in French diet pill scandal where hundreds died

Company pulled the drug Mediator from the French market in 2009, 11 years after it was first warned of potential problems

Former Servier number two Jean-Philippe Seta (right) received a suspended sentence. AFP

Pharma giant Servier has been convicted of manslaughter after selling a diabetes and diet pill that caused the deaths of hundreds of people.
The French company was fined 2.7 million euros ($3.2 million) and its former deputy chief, Jean-Philippe Seta, sentenced to a four-year suspended jail sentence.
Servier and the Mediator scandal had "weakened people's trust in the health system", presiding judge Sylvie Daunis said in Paris.
"Although they knew about the risks for many years ... they never took the necessary measures", Judge Daunis said.
The Servier case was one of France's biggest health scandals involving between 500 and 2,000 deaths and more than 6,500 plaintiffs.

The company "misled" consumers, Judge Daunis said, fining the company for manslaughter, causing unintentional injury and aggravated deception. The firm was acquitted of fraud.
Servier sold Mediator as a diabetes and weight loss pill for 33 years. It was used by about five million people before finally being pulled in 2009 over fears it could cause serious heart problems.
They were first warned about potential problems as early as 1998 when a doctor flagged worries. That doctor testified he was bullied into retracting his concerns.

Servier was accused of putting profits ahead of patients' welfare by allowing the drug to be widely and irresponsibly prescribed as a diet pill — with deadly consequences. Servier argued that it didn't know about the drug's dangers.
Between 1997 and 2004, Servier withdrew Mediator from the Swiss, Spanish and Italian markets as they faced questions about the drug's side effects from medical authorities in those countries.

It continued selling the drug in France until 2009.
Many of the victims who testified in court about the impact of the drug on their lives were women.
"It was said that the drug was extraordinary. I lost 10 kilos the first month," said one plaintiff, Stephanie, who took the drug for three years before being diagnosed with heart disease in 2009.

France's medicines agency was fined 303,000 euros for its delay in suspending the use of the drug.

In a damning verdict for the regulator, the court convicted it of manslaughter and causing unintentional injury, saying it "seriously failed in its role as health watchdog".

A 2010 study said Mediator was suspected in up to 2,000 deaths, with doctors linking it to heart and lung problems.
Some survivors suffered severe health complications, requiring heart transplants and other medical procedures, after taking the drug as a hunger suppressant.
The court also ordered Servier to pay hundreds of millions more in damages that will be shared out by plaintiffs. Damages for aggravated deception alone totalled €59 million.
Lawyers for Servier argued that the company was not aware of the risks associated with Mediator before 2009, and said the company never claimed it was a diet pill. They had argued for acquittal.
The company's CEO and founder, Jacques Servier, was indicted early in the legal process but died in 2014.