At the bar of the Court of Appeal, Me Mattei comes to push a “cry of despair, a cry for help”. That of his three clients, patients of Lionel Guedj, the richest former dentist in France accused of dental mutilation in his office in the northern districts from 2006 to 2012. This Friday marked the start of the pleadings of the civil parties in this extraordinary trial , in which more than 300 victims sued their practitioner. One of his clients, now 65, is a “dentist phobic”. When she consults Lionel Guedj, advised by neighbors, she is “desperate”, according to her lawyer. “At the time, he had 17 teeth left, including two with cavities, summarizes Me Mattei. He devitalized 16 teeth. And since then, it’s been a daily hell. Since then, it’s antibiotics every month. »
One after another, the many civil party lawyers report the suffering of their toothless clients, whose health was sacrificed by this former dentist “on the altar of greed”. His father Jean-Claude also condemned at first instance, accused of having acted like his son by his side. By devitalizing healthy teeth and placing very profitable prostheses in the chain, up to 70 patients a day, Lionel Guedj had managed to generate a colossal turnover, allowing him to build up a heritage estimated at more than 12 million euros. euros.
An “imaginary patient” dentist
“There is a betrayal of an entire profession, adds Me Marc Ceccaldi, lawyer for 57 victims. The Hippocratic oath says not to resist the lust for gain. And they have done more odious. Not only have they not resisted the thirst for gain, but they are frenetic serial millers. Just for the victims whose lawyer represents the interests, Lionel Guedj would have devitalized 580 teeth. “This is what corresponds to 20 mouths, calculates Me Ceccaldi. It’s dizzying. »
Faced with this, Lionel Guedj is accused by the lawyer of having first played the “Molières”. At the opening of his appeal trial, Lionel Guedj was absent, claiming significant health problems due to a defective pacemaker. The medical expert appointed by the Court of Appeal concluded that the pacemaker… did not exist, and that Lionel Guedj was perfectly fit to appear. When he first appeared in the box, the former dentist appeared dazed, walking with difficulty.
“It’s the imaginary patient without the talent of Molière, annoys Me Ceccaldi. He presented himself sickly in his first appearance in the box, apologizing for any discomfort that may punctuate the intervention. And then it’s not Molière who wants to. The natural smirk, the natural arrogant, the natural accuser returned at a gallop. “We all understood that they make fun of the world and that they alter reality”, gets carried away Me Ceccaldi. “It is very irritating for the civil parties who are exhausted. »
“A legal scandal”
The procedure has in fact been going on for more than ten years, and many have been waiting for years for money to be able to get treatment, leading another civil party lawyer to say that this is not only a “scandal health”, but also “a legal scandal. »
“This appeal trial was predictable, probably cynical, because it is rebellious for these people, notes Me Louis Saint-Pierre. But my clients did not come with the same message. There is more anger to have to go through this box again. And there is more misunderstanding. There is more disappointment to see this new positioning displayed by Lionel Guedj, limping along. »
And to conclude: “As a lawyer, this trial has been a lesson in humility for me. For seven long years, I had no concrete solution to offer to clients wounded in their flesh, in difficulty. Seven years is a long time watching things go by like that. And this trial shocked me as a citizen and as a person. Because who will pay for the repairs in the end? It will largely be the community through the guarantee fund, for a sum close to ten million euros in damages. The trial will last until next Friday.