Contacted this Sunday by telephone, Professor Emmanuel Masmejean recognizes him lip service. “That’s bullshit, if you want me to say that. It’s a mistake, that’s for sure. This orthopedic surgeon, who practices at the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital of the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), sparked controversy by publishing on the Internet the radiograph of a woman injured during the attacks of the 13-November, on which we can see a Kalashnikov bullet. An approach revealed by
Mediapart, which is not to the taste of the associations of the victims of these attacks, nor of its employer, the AP-HP, and which the doctor also has a little difficulty in clearly justifying.
Titled by the surgeon “Bataclan terrorist attack – November 13, 2015 – Paris, France”, this radio was posted on the Opensea site which presents itself as “the first and largest digital market in the world for crypto collectibles and non-fungible tokens [NFT] “. Their motto: “Buy, sell and discover exclusive digital items. However, Professor Masmejean assures us that he “didn’t want to sell” this image. His approach would be “proof of concept” – “proof of concept” – and would simply aim to show “that we can put a medical document on the blockchain”. “I wanted to publish it because I find it interesting to say that there is traceability because on the Internet there is no traceability”.
“It’s not a sale”
He had however set a price for this radio which he has since withdrawn: 2,776.70 dollars… “When you put a post on the blockchain, it’s called an NFT. We pay, there is a cost, and we can offer a value. So I proposed a value, which was a mistake. But that doesn’t mean I’m selling it, it’s not a sale, he defends himself. It is also the operation of the site that asks if we want to put a price. But it’s not a sale. »
On the Opensea site, Emmanuel Masmejean explains that he is the owner of this radio. It was taken, he explains in the description, from a “young patient, who lost her boyfriend in this attack”, and who “had an open fracture of the left forearm with a bullet remaining from Kalashnikov in soft tissues”. This renowned doctor claims to have operated on four other women injured during the attacks, among the twenty patients sent on November 13 to the Georges-Pompidou hospital for surgery.
Member of the French Society of Orthopedic and Traumatological Surgery, of the French Society of Hand Surgery, of the French Society of Sports Traumatology or of the National Academy of Surgery, Professor Masmejean says he does not understand why the publication of this radio arouses indignation. “On Instagram and on Facebook, there are thousands of Public Assistance radio stations, that’s all I have to say. There are thousands of them, pictures of patients, thousands. Type any name of doctor, specialist surgeon… There are thousands. And when you write a scientific publication, you never ask the Assistance Publique for an opinion, you send it to the journal and it belongs to the journal. That’s what’s surreal. According to him, the problem stems from the fact that “99% of the population does not know what blockchain is. “That’s the problem,” he says.
“A scandalous act”, “of exceptional gravity”
In a press release published on Sunday, the Life for Paris association, which has 650 members, including many victims of the attacks, denounces “the stupidity” and “the greed of a” doctor “who has visibly forgotten the code of ethics and seems deprived judgment as well as the most elementary empathy”. For its part, the association 13 eleven 15 fraternity-truth “strongly condemns any act that undermines the memory of the victims of the attacks of November 13, 2015”. Referring to the publication of this radio, the association considers that “this is a heinous act but which we know is isolated and not representative of the work of the health professionals of the AP-HP in whom we have full confidence. “.
So that there is no ambiguity about our indignation, I exceptionally share the message that I sent this evening to the whole of@APHP pic.twitter.com/VLbfICPuhc
—Martin Hirsch (@MartinHirsch) January 22, 2022
Contacted by 20 minutes, the AP-HP refers us to the message published by its director general, Martin Hirsch, on his Twitter account. The latter deplores “a scandalous act”, “of exceptional gravity”, “unethical”. It “challenges medical secrecy, goes against the values of the AP-HP and public service”. Martin Hirsch indicates that the AP-HP will seize the council of the College of Physicians, report to the public prosecutor on the basis of article 40 of the Penal Code, and “seize the ministers who have disciplinary power “.