A landmark trial over one of France’s biggest healthcare scandals will begin on Monday after a weight-loss pill was believed to have killed up to 2,000 people and left many more injured for life, reports The Guardian.
The trial for manslaughter and deceit will attempt to lift the lid on France’s massive pharmaceuticals industry.
Servier, one of France’s biggest and most powerful privately-owned laboratories, is accused of covering up the killer side-effects of a widely prescribed drug called Mediator. The French state drug regulator is accused of lenience and not acting to prevent patient deaths and injuries.
The Mediator pill was an amphetamine derivative marketed to overweight diabetics but it was often prescribed to healthy women as an appetite suppressant if they wanted to lose a few pounds.
Even healthy, slim and sporty women were prescribed it by their doctors who advised they should take it in order to avoid weight gain.