The drug manufacturer Servier and the French drug agency ANSM will face legal action for the release of the weight loss drug Mediator, which is believed to have caused at least 500 deaths in one of the most severe health scandals in France, prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
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Approved as a diabetes medication, the product was widely prescribed as an appetite suppressant intended to aid in weight loss.
Mediator, whose active substance is benfluorex, was withdrawn from the French market in 2009, approximately a decade after it was removed from the markets in Spain, Italy, and the USA.
The indictment includes charges ranging from murder to fraud against 14 individuals and 11 institutions.
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According to the Ministry of Health, at least 500 people have died from heart valve failure in France due to exposure to the drug. Other estimates suggest that up to 2000 people may have died as a result of using this medication.
