Healthy Skepticism Library item: 19629

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Publication type: news

Fourcade M
Servier Founder Charged in Deaths Granted 4 Million Euro Bail
Bloomberg 2011 Sep 22
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-21/servier-founder-charged-in-deaths-granted-4-million-euro-bail.html

Full text:

Jacques Servier, chairman of France’s second-largest drugmaker, must post bail of 4 million euros ($5.51 million) and his freedom may be restricted as he faces charges that he helped hide the risks of a drug suspected of causing the deaths of as many as 2,000 people.
Servier and five affiliated companies of Laboratoires Servier, which he founded, were charged today by French magistrates, the company said in a statement. Servier must provide a financial guarantee of 6 million euros by Dec. 15, according to the release.
Servier, 89, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated deception and fraud, the newspaper Le Monde reported, citing his lawyer. The company remains innocent until proven guilty and will “finally be able to defend itself in a judicial setting,” it said in the statement.
Mediator, the diabetes drug at the root of the case, was sold in France for 33 years until it was withdrawn in November 2009 on safety concerns. It was widely used as an appetite suppressant.
The largest French drugmaker is Sanofi.