In the 1970s, Servier laboratories developed a new drug that they thought was promising: the Mediator. This treatment for diabetics will be widely consumed for its appetite suppressant effect. Derived from amphetamine, this drug causes many side effects, sometimes fatal. A similar drug in the 1990s, Isomeride causes the same ailments. For the first time, the story of this scandal will be told in comics. “It looks like a thriller, except that it’s all true! […] The real factual story from A to Z had never been written”, assures the whistleblower Irène Frachon, author of “Mediator, a chemically pure crime” (Ed. Delcourt).
The pulmonologist at the Brest-Carhaix hospital (Finistère) collaborated with former journalist Éric Giacometti for the writing of this comic strip drawn by François Duprat, which should be published on January 4. “It’s an industrial crime that began in the 1960s: Servier invented a series of appetite suppressants derived from amphetamine. And, despite signs of danger which appear very quickly, Servier will do everything to prevent the withdrawal of these appetite suppressants because they are extremely profitable products,” says Dr. Frachon.
Five million people processed by the Mediator
Marketed in 1976 for the treatment of diabetes but widely misused as an appetite suppressant, the Mediator was prescribed to around five million people until it was withdrawn in November 2009. It was upon discovering the similarity of the Mediator with Isomeride that the pulmonologist will realize how dangerous it is. Because “in reality, Isomeride and Mediator are the same thing. They release the same poison into the body. Servier knew it and concealed it,” emphasizes Irène Frachon.
“I’ve been living this affair like a thriller for years but I don’t know how to tell it like that,” says Irène Frachon, who surrounded herself with Largo Winch screenwriter Eric Giacometti to bring the story to life.
Soon a new trial of pharmaceutical laboratories
Along with others, this scandal has helped undermine public trust in health authorities, fueling conspiracy and anti-vax rhetoric. Aware of this threat, the pulmonologist advocates a drastic fight against the conflicts of interest which remain “omnipresent today in the medical world” to remedy it.
She also pleads for greater severity of justice vis-à-vis white-collar crime, while the appeal trial of the Mediator scandal is to open on January 9. In March 2021, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced Servier for “aggravated deception” and “involuntary homicides and injuries” to a fine of 2.718 million euros and acquitted him of the offense of fraud. A sentence well below the requisitions of the prosecution.
Despite its ban thirteen years ago, victims continue to die from the Mediator today.