Orpea was sentenced on Thursday for negligence following the death of an invalid elderly person in 2017, who died after being hospitalized for an unexplained double fracture of the femurs.
Toussainte Der Markarian was 84 years old when a caregiver from Clos-des-Meuniers, in the Paris suburbs, noticed on the morning of January 17, 2017 that the left knee of the old lady, who could neither walk nor speak, was swollen , even deformed, evoking a possible fracture of the femur.
At Saint-Joseph Hospital, where she arrived by ambulance four hours later, X-rays revealed two double fractures, one on each femur. Unable to operate, Toussainte Der Markarian died after a week.
Five years later, Orpea was condemned for breaches which led to the death of Mrs. Der Markarian. The Nanterre court relies in particular on medical expertise which rules out the causes of death put forward by its defenders, such as an epileptic fit or an infection. But for the expert there is no doubt. This is ” trauma suffered by the patient which is the cause of her double fracture of the femurs and her death “.
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The decision of the second civil chamber also points to the resident’s state of malnutrition, reported for months by the staff but which has never led to a consultation with her attending physician. The absence of a clinical examination by the doctor of the establishment and the abnormally long delay before his transfer to the hospital motivated the judges to condemn the group.
Orpea therefore has manifestly failed in its legal obligations to ensure the integrity and security of the victim, concluded the court which condemns the group to pay 65,000 euros in damages to the son of Toussainte Der Markarian.
After publication of the investigation book The Gravediggers of Victor Castanet, who had revealed serious abuse in many nursing homes of the Orpea group, the government demanded investigations and then seized justice. An investigation was also opened in April by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office on suspicion of institutional mistreatment and financial offences. And several dozen complaints from families of residents have been filed in Nanterre against Orpea, in particular for ” endangering others ” and “ manslaughter “.