Could this be the swan song of Didier Raoult, who is to leave the head of the Marseille IHU in September? A symposium entitled “Covid-19, first assessment of scientific knowledge and controversies” scheduled for March 30 and 31 at the IHU, and bringing together the cream of researchers denouncing the scientific consensus, is meeting opposition from the founding members of the institute. The controversial Marseilles professor will not read a contribution during this colloquium, but he will present it with an inaugural speech.
On Twitter, Didier Raoult had explained the organization of this symposium “for the sake of freedom of expression, without censoring or endorsing it”. But the content of the program, with in particular two presentations by researchers who ardently defended ivermectin as a treatment against the coronavirus, caused a reaction.
In a joint press release, the University of Aix-Marseille, IRD, AP-HM, Inserm, the French Blood Establishment and the Army Health Service, founding members of the IHU , ask the management of the latter to “give up holding this meeting within the establishment” and the “relocation of this conference”.
Contacted, the management of the IHU did not wish to “make any comment” on this request. Laurent Mucchielli, the scientific coordinator of this symposium funded by Réinfo Liberté, an association supporting the RéinfoCovid site and the Education, Research, Freedoms union, denounces “pressure” and a “smear campaign never seen for a symposium”.
“The title and the nature of the participants and partner associations leave no doubt about the objectives”, continued the signatories of the press release, who specify that they had “not been concerted and did not[être] nothing associated with this meeting.