The French pulmonologist and whistleblower Irène Frachon looks back on her years of battle against the appetite suppressant drug Mediator, which has been blamed for causing hundreds of deaths in France, before it was taken off the market in November 2009.

It has been a lifetime affair for Frachon. It began when as a young 27-year-old pulmonology intern she witnessed the harmful effects of one drug, branded as Isoméride. She later took up the fight against another product made by the same pharmaceutical firm, Servier: Mediator, an appetite suppressant sold as an anti-diabetic medication.

Now aged 59, Frachon has by no means given up the fight. On Jan. 9 she was present at the opening of the appeal trial of the Mediator case, and she has recently published a graphic novel, titled “Mediator, un crime chimiquement pur” (Mediator, a chemically pure crime).

This is one woman’s campaign against a drug maker that sold harmful products. A fierce struggle dedicated to the victims of Mediator. Victims that were often women, who, seeking to lose weight, took this anti-diabetic drug which was prescribed as an appetite suppressant. It’s a trial against cynicism, lies and against the exploitation of the diktat that women’s bodies must be thin.

Excerpts from the interview, done before the the opening of the appeal trial, follow.

Question: In France, your campaign against Mediator popularized the term whistleblower. You’ve fought with all your strength and you’re still not letting up…

Frachon: I’m still in the ring! Because each week I receive letters from victims who hope to be compensated and, above all, hope to see the suffering that Mediator caused them recognized and punished.

I hear sons, daughters and partners speak of their pain following the death of a mother or wife. They talk to me of broken lives and distress. All this obliges me (to carry on).

Q:The graphic novel that you co-wrote with Éric Giacometti is 200 pages long! The book revisits the whole case in detail, but it genuinely reads like a crime novel.

A: It’s an absolutely gripping thriller. What’s dramatic is that the whole thing is true, notably the thousands of deaths… One could almost say that the scriptwriter had grossly exaggerated, given how crazy the story is. But no.

What we are dealing with is a pharmaceutical firm that put a drug on the market while concealing its hazardous nature, that made money from this drug, and caused terrible deaths and disabilities. And this happened up until Mediator’s withdrawal, in 2009.

Q:It's been a lifetime mission for you?

A: In my life as a doctor, yes. It started when I was a young intern. At that time, I never imagined I was going to spend my life caring for the victims of Servier, battling to make this poison recognized as such, and continuing to fight, so that the victims would get compensated. I clearly didn’t imagine that my life as a doctor would be like that…

Q: Has this had an impact on your family life?

A: Inevitably… But I must say that my husband has been exemplary. He has never stopped me from continuing what I had started. Without his understanding, and that of my children, I wouldn’t have been able to see this through right to the end.

Q: By ‘right to the end’, you’re notably referring to the criminal trial which began in 2019?

A: It was a crucial landmark but I consider that the ruling made by the justice system was very timid.* Despite the scandal breaking out and its nationwide resonance, the conviction of white-collar offenders remains very complicated.

Q: Acts of deceit have been recognized but not those of fraud, what do you hope for from the appeal trial which began on Jan. 9?

A: So (she rolls her eyes)… I’m going to remain optimistic. Believing in democracy means believing in the solidity of our institutions, and notably our justice system. I therefore hope that the ruling made, this time, will be exemplary.

It’s up to judges to set the limits. It’s up to them to make the pharmaceutical firms understand that they can’t play around with people’s health. Yet today, Servier is still well-established, (and) receives government subsidies.

Not to convict Servier for fraud is, in my view, an aberration. Mediator was marketed in a fraudulent way as an anti-diabetic medication in order to benefit from reimbursement by the French social security system! It’s the heist of the century.

Q: Don’t you get tired of constantly campaigning? Don’t you want to let the matter drop, let the courts settle it, and take some time for yourself?

A: I’m going to take some time for myself because I’m going to work a bit less. I’m nearly 60, so I’m going to take it easier at the hospital and thus look after my family more. But the Mediator case doesn’t only depend on me, and for as long as I can be useful to the victims, I will stay.

I have the knowledge, skills and evidence that enable me to act, so I can’t give up. Knowing that a person is going to receive compensation, that she or he will regain a bit more dignity and a more acceptable level of everyday comfort, is a fight that’s very rewarding for me.

Q: At a time when the media is receiving a lot of criticism, you have said, “Without their work, undoubtedly this affair wouldn’t have come to light.”

A: It’s quite painful for me but, with this affair, I haven’t been able to count much on the medical community.

Fortunately, some (members of the medical community) have been solid allies but, overall, this affair has not been appreciated because it has called some organizations into question; it has raised the question of conflicts of interest in the medical profession…

In the end, it’s partnership and exacting collaborations with media of all persuasions that has made it possible to take things further. I’ve seen investigative journalists work and bring this case forward at a time when many doctors were criticizing me and the law courts were censoring my book…

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“Mediator, un crime chimiquement pur” Irène Frachon, Éric Giacometti, François Duprat. Delcourt. 200 pages, €23.95.

* In 2021, in the first instance, Servier Group was sentenced to a fine of €2.7 million for “aggravated deceit” and “involuntary manslaughter and injury.”

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This article is being published as part of “Towards Equality”, an international and collaborative initiative gathering 15 international news outlets to highlight the challenges and solutions to reach gender equality. The Asahi Shimbun is participating in this campaign spearheaded by Sparknews.