France shaken by fresh scandal over weight-loss drug linked to deaths

Drug company boss faces manslaughter investigation as victims complain of delays in compensationA weight-loss drug believed to have killed hundreds of people in France's biggest pharmaceutical scandal has sparked fresh controversy as victims complain of delays in state compensation and a leading drug-company boss has been placed under formal investigation for manslaughter.The amphetamine derivative Mediator was marketed to overweight diabetics but often prescribed to healthy women as an appetite suppressant when they wanted to lose a few pounds.According to the French health ministry, it has killed at least 500 people from heart-valve damage, but other studies put the death toll nearer to 2,000. Thousands more complain of cardiovascular complications that have limited their daily lives.As many as 5 million people were given the drug between 1976 and November 2009, when it was withdrawn in France, years after being pulled in Spain and Italy. It was never authorised in the UK or US.The scandal, which has prompted the resignation of the head of France's public health agency, sparked a furore about drugs regulation and the lobbying power of pharmaceutical companies in France, which has one of Europe's highest levels of consumption of prescription drugs.Mediator is now at the centre of one of the most important medical legal battles of the year. Along with the prosecution over the French-made faulty PIP silicone breast implants, it has shaken the French medical world.Recently Loui...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: The Guardian Diets and dieting World news Pharmaceuticals industry Europe Drugs Life and style France Business Science Source Type: news