The verdict is in. The Mediterranean Infection University Hospital Institute (IHUm) was indeed the scene of “serious malfunctions” under the direction of Professor Didier Raoult, replaced by Professor Pierre-Edouard Fournier on September 1. This is the conclusion of the final report of the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) and the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (IGESR), which has just been submitted to the Ministers of Higher Education and Research and Health and posted on the IGAS website this Monday, September 5.
Management and behavior of the management team “generators of discomfort at work or even harassment”, medical prescriptions contrary to the public health code, publications of scientific studies of poor quality or without legal authorization… final report of the IGAS / IGESR combs the “deviant” practices of the Marseille Institute and confirms the accusations made in the preliminary version of the report, revealed by the press last July. “The contradictory debate did take place and the main players – including Didier Raoult, former president of the IHUm, but also the Mediterranean Infection Foundation, the AP-HM and Aix Marseille University – did not lead to any modification of the preliminary report”, indicates the office of the Ministry of Health to L’Express. The conclusions of the document also confirm the multiple investigations published by L’Express (on management problems, poor quality scientific studies or those published illegally), which had revealed some of the profound dysfunctions of Didier Raoult’s IHU.
The new management summoned, the prosecutor of Marseille seized
Faced with the seriousness of the facts, François Braun, Minister of Solidarity and Health and Sylvie Retailleau, Minister of Higher Education and Research, decided to convene the new management of the IHUm and the founding establishments in Paris ” in a few weeks,” said the office of the Minister of Health. They will be asked to implement “as soon as possible a proactive action plan” which must strictly follow the recommendations made in the IGAS/IGESR report” in order to put an end to the “serious dysfunctions of the ‘IHUm regarding the quality of its research and care activities’.
In a press release issued immediately after, the two ministers point out in particular:
- The widespread inappropriate medical and scientific practices within the IHUm, which do not comply with the regulations in force and which may generate a health risk for patients, in particular during research protocols.
- The excesses in management practices, which can generate harassment and malaise at work.
- Deviation in governance, which does not strictly respect the rules governing the foundations of scientific cooperation.
- The progressive deterioration of the institution’s financial situation.
“Several elements contained in the report being likely to constitute offenses or serious breaches of the regulations in terms of health or research, the ministers also seized the Public Prosecutor of Marseille, under article 40 of the criminal procedure code“, specifies this press release. This legal action will be carried out in parallel with that initiated by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM), which had published a vitriolic report last April, placed the IHUm under guardianship and seized the Prosecutor of Marseilles Certain facts discovered by the IGAS/IGESR and the ANSM could be sanctioned by significant fines, or even prison sentences.
The meeting between the ministers, the management and the founding establishments will focus on the factual elements noted by the IGAS/IGESR investigators. But it could also be an opportunity to put an end to the excesses of external communication, in particular on the social networks (Youtube and Twitter) of several members or former members of the IHU who have not hesitated to support theses antivax, even conspirators, when they have not encouraged waves of cyberbullying.
The funding of the IHU by the State conditional on compliance with the future “action plan”
The government intends to take the problem head-on, since in addition to summoning the management and seizing the Prosecutor, the ministers are threatening the IHUm to cut its funding if it does not make a real change in its practices. “Full compliance with the action plan and the regulations in force will be subject to regular checks by the two ministries and will condition the continuation of the IHUm’s activity and its funding by the State”, warn the two ministers.
“The IHUm’s injunction to get back on track, to respect good medical practices and to produce quality science, as it always should have been, does not mean that we disqualify the ‘IHU model’ in France, on the contrary, we want to carry it: there are seven IHUs in France and a call for tenders is underway to create six new ones”, nevertheless wishes to specify the office of the Minister of Health.
Asked to leave the IHUm, Didier Raoult left his place as director to Pierre-Edouard Fournier, internal candidate, specialist in infectious diseases. On social networks, relatives of Didier Raoult pretended to welcome this appointment when Didier Raoult tweeted “checkmate”, a message intended for his most loyal fans to tell them that his replacement is in fact a victory, since it t is one of his closest associates who has been named. The summons by the Ministry and the public posting of the IGAS/IGESR report confirms that the State services are determined to stop the abuses of the IHUm and to inform it that it will now be closely monitored. .
Questioned by L’Express last July, Pierre Fournier had already received the message 5 out of 5, since he announced that he had distanced himself from Pr. Raoult and that he intended to profoundly change the practices of the IHUm. The Ministers of Health and Education will leave him, in any case, no choice.
Victor Garcia