Limoges CHU to Remain Sole Provider of PET-Scans After Legal Challenge Fails
Limoges, France – The Limoges University Hospital (CHU) will continue to be the sole provider of PET-scan services in the Haute-Vienne region after a legal challenge by the IMRO company was effectively overturned by a change in regional healthcare regulations. The decision ensures continuity of cancer detection and monitoring for local patients, but leaves the private sector frustrated.
Demand for PET-scans in Limoges has surged in recent years, rising from over 6,000 exams annually before 2024 to 7,500 per year following the installation of a second device at the CHU. IMRO had sought to establish a competing PET-scan facility near the Chénieux Polyclinique, utilizing the site of the former Le Populaire newspaper.
However, in July 2025, the administrative court ruled in favor of IMRO, ordering the CHU to cease using its new PET-scan device from January 1, 2026.This decision sparked concern among unions and patient advocacy groups who feared privatization of access to crucial diagnostic services.
The situation shifted with a revised policy from the Regional Health Agency (ARS). The ARS now mandates that any facility offering PET-scans must also operate a complete nuclear medicine technical platform capable of producing the necessary radioactive tracers. Currently, the CHU is the only healthcare provider in the region with such a facility.
“It takes a specific technical habitat to accommodate a PET-scan. We are the only ones to get it. We cannot install a nuclear medicine device on a corner of the table,” stated Professor Muriel Mathonnet, president of the CHU establishment medical committee. She characterized IMRO’s legal appeal as largely “symbolic.”
IMRO management disputes this assessment, asserting they had a viable plan to construct a nuclear medicine platform, despite critically important logistical challenges. “We really had this project thanks to the skills of nuclear physicians that we employ at the Cedles Clinic in Brive. We did not have authorization for political reasons and not technical,” claimed an IMRO executive.
The company further highlighted the need for increased PET-scan capacity, stating, “This PET-scan would have allowed us to take care of our oncology patients directly. The CHU could not take them before the establishment of its second machine. We were forced to send them to Brive or Châteauroux.”
While the decision secures continued access to PET-scan services through the public hospital system, IMRO has not ruled out further legal action.
