“French court finds pharma firm Servier negligent in deadly drug scandal”, 22 Oct 2015

Eight years after a scandal erupted over a diabetes drug linked to hundreds of deaths, a French court on Thursday found pharmaceutical firm Servier negligent for the first time for having left "defective" medicine on the market…Two patients aged 72 and 67 sued the company…for the after-effects they say they suffered after taking Mediator.  The court…found that at the time the medicine was prescribed to the two claimants…"the state of scientific knowledge meant the risks of pulmonary hypertension" and heart valve damage "could not be ignored".  "The mere suspicion of such risks" should have forced the French company "to inform patients and health professionals"…[T]he lawyer for one of the victims, welcomed the decision as a "victory" -- the first time that a court has found Servier responsible in the scandal…"Despite the satisfying decision, the level of financial award is not dissuasive -- it will not ensure greater ethics from pharmaceutical industry,"…Servier argues that until 2009 when Mediator was withdrawn from the market, health authorities had not issued any "significant warnings" regarding the drug…Servier…has yet to decide on whether it will appeal the decision…