Just a month ago, they didn’t know each other. It is the Depakine health scandal, and its consequences for thousands of poisoned victims who now bind them.
Sandra Mantinha and Béatrice Franco both took this drug, which to treat epilepsy, which for bipolarity. Problem: they took it during their pregnancy. Without knowing how dangerous it is for the fetus.
However, Sanofi, the pharmaceutical laboratory which markets Dépakine and Dépakote, knew since the 1980s the risks for pregnant women. Only here, the laboratory and the health authorities have been slow to update the instructions for this drug. also delayed in contraindicating women of childbearing age.
This is what their Apesac association, which represents 350 families in Midi-Pyrénées, criticizes them for. In 2016, she went to court. And now, on February 3, 2020, Sanofi announced that it was under investigation for “aggravated deception” and “involuntary injuries”. 37 families filed complaints in the criminal part of the case, alongside numerous civil proceedings and before administrative courts. Sanofi will now have to explain itself to thousands of victims.
An important step for families, but for Sandra and Béatrice, the anger is immense. Their respective sons suffer from major malformations or severe disabilities. “We have been robbed of part of our life,” breathes Beatrice. “My son is my son but I still wonder what it would have been if I hadn’t taken this medicine.”
See the report by Odile Debacker and Clara Delannoy, from France 3 Occitanie:
Dépakine: “We have been robbed of part of our life” —
