Film Screening and Discussion on the Médiator Case, Featuring Irène Frachon

The School of Pharmacy is hosting a film screening and discussion of Emmanuelle BERCOT’s film “La Fille de Brest” on October 7 at 8:00 p.m. in Amphitheater A.

The discussion with Irène FRACHON, a pulmonologist and whistleblower in the Médiator case, will be moderated by Cécile LE GAL FONTES, a professor at the University of Montpellier.

Free admission

Light refreshments will be served before the screening, starting at 7 p.m.

Mediator, which was introduced in 1976 for the treatment of diabetes but was widely misused as an appetite suppressant, was prescribed on a massive scale in France and around the world. Withdrawn from the market in 2009, after pulmonologist Irène FRACHON established a link between the drug and heart damage and pulmonary arterial hypertension, a lengthy trial ensued, with the appellate court’s verdict handed down a few months ago.

The story of Irène FRACHON—as a whistleblower and key player in this long-running legal battle—is the subject of a feature-length film that traces the ins and outs of this extraordinary health and legal saga.