Reuters: French Regulatory Authority, Executives Searched In Mediator Probe
The offices of French regulatory authority Afssaps were searched by French investigators on 2 February as part of an investigation in to deaths associated with Servier's anti-diabetes drug Mediator, according to Reuters.
Mediator has been blamed for over 500 deaths in France, and was on the market for more than 30 years. After its introduction to the market in 1976, it was prescribed to nearly 5 million French citizens before it was recalled from the market in late 2009 in light of reports of cardiovascular adverse events.
Servier maintains that is neither misled authorities nor misled patients, and maintains that only 4 patients have died as a result of taking Mediator.
The pill was on the market in France for nearly a decade longer than it should have been, according to state health inspectors cited by Reuters. Other countries, including Italy and Spain, had withdrawn the drug from the market years before France.
Sources interviewed by Reuters also confirmed that French investigators had "searched the homes several executives of Afssaps."