Sanofi sentenced for birth defects and disorders caused by Depakine

© ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Archives

The antiepileptic drug Depakine has been the target of a procedure led by whistleblower Marine Martin for twelve years. Treated with the drug, she reports numerous risks, including malformation and neurodevelopmental risks. And, this Monday, September 9, the Paris judicial court has just ordered Sanofi to pay the mother compensation amounting to 285,000 euros. 

The Depakine scandal took twelve years of patience to finally see the complainant's grievances legally recognized. Challenged for a “lack of information” surrounding the risks of taking the medication , this product is now considered “defective”. 

The pharmaceutical group is targeted by the serious defects in its antiepileptic drug, Depakine. It has been on the market since 1967 and has been responsible for many serious illnesses in thousands of children following the drug's use by mothers during pregnancy.  

The judgment was available for consultation by Le Monde, which transcribes how the court declared Sanofi “responsible for a failure to provide information on the malformation and neurodevelopmental risks of Depakine, which it marketed, for maintaining in circulation a product that it knew was defective, and for a lack of vigilance during Ms Marine Martin's pregnancies, between 1998 and 2002”.

The plaintiff's two children now live with facial malformations, cognitive and visual disorders, and attention and language disorders, to name a few. The list is long, and her son, although a student, requires the presence of a family helper for six hours a day just for everyday tasks.

Health Insurance and the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines have estimated that the active ingredient of the drug is responsible for malformations in 2,150 to 4,100 children, while neurodevelopmental disorders are found in 16,600 to 30,400 children. These estimates are of course refuted by the French laboratory.

Thanks to Marine Martin's fight, victims of the drug have been able to access the National Office for Compensation of Medical Accidents (Oniam) since 2017. A fight that her children and husband had abandoned, accepting the compensation offered by Oniam in August 2023. However, Oniam refuses this compensation, paving the way for a more in-depth judgment.

Since 2017, nearly 4,000 compensation requests have been made to the organization. This totals 58 million euros in compensation, paid to the 1,120 victims who accepted the office's proposals. An amount that should subsequently be partly reimbursed by the laboratory when its liability is fully recognized.  

The fight does not stop there. While around forty families are expected to join the ongoing procedure by October, a review of the case on the merits is not expected to begin before 2025. An exercise in endurance that is putting the victims to the test once again.

You liked the article ? It mobilized our editorial staff, which lives only on your donations.
Information has a cost, especially since competition from subsidized editorial staff requires increased rigor and professionalism.

With your support, France-Soir will continue to offer its articles free of charge  because we believe that everyone should have access to free and independent information to form their own opinion.

You are the sine qua non condition for our existence, support us so that France-Soir remains the French media that allows the most legitimate to express themselves.