Marine Martín has been waiting for this decision for twelve years. The whistleblower has been leading the rebellion against Sanofi for the pharmaceutical group to be recognised as responsible for the Dépakine scandal, this anti-epileptic drug marketed since 1967 and responsible for congenital malformations and neurodevelopmental disorders in thousands of children of mothers treated during pregnancy.
In a judgment issued on Monday, September 9, which The world The Paris court ordered the French laboratory to pay her – and her two children – 284,867.24 euros in compensation. In its ruling, the court declared that Sanofi “responsible for the lack of information on the risks of malformations and neurological development of Dépakine, which it marketed, for keeping in circulation a product that it knew was defective and for the lack of supervision during the pregnancies of Madame Marine Martin, between 1998 and 2002”.
Salomé, the eldest, was born with facial malformations and suffered from cognitive, visual and dyspraxic disorders. Florent, the youngest, was born with facial, hand and penis malformations – which required two surgical interventions – and developed attention and language disorders and was diagnosed with Asperger’s autism. As a student, he still needs six hours of family help with daily tasks.
“Thousands of children, great victims”
“This is a tremendous victory because Sanofi, which invoked the ten-year statute of limitations, was rejected. They are convicted due to Dépakine’s fault and defect, Martine Martin, founder of the Association for the Support of Parents of Children Suffering from Anticonvulsant Syndrome (Apesac), which today has more than 8,000 members, reacts.. This opens the door to thousands of child, adult victims who could not wait to go to court. » The Nanterre court had already ordered Sanofi to compensate victims in 2022, but for more recent cases.
According to estimates – disputed by Sanofi – from the National Health Insurance Agency and the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines, sodium valproate, the active ingredient in Dépakine, is responsible for malformations (heart, kidneys, limbs, fingers, face, etc.) in between 2,150 and 4,100 children, and neurodevelopmental disorders (autism, language delay, etc.) in 16,600 to 30,400 children.
The court rejected Sanofi’s requests for a statute of limitations and also its request for a stay of proceedings. “Sanofi has embarked on an incomprehensible legal guerrilla war, comments Charles Joseph-Oudin, Marina Martín and Apesac’s lawyer. It is urgent that the firm abandon its attitude of disdainful denial towards the victims of its product.
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