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 The French parliament voted to create a nationwide compensation fund
and amended the 2017 budget bill late on Tuesday to set aside an
initial 10 million euros ($10.7 million) for claims relating to
Depakine, a brandname for valproate, which is also used to treat
bipolar disorder.
Parents of those affected say the French state and Sanofi were too
slow to warn of the side effects of the drug, which has been used to
successfully treat epilepsy since 1967, after the risks to fetuses
became clear by the early 1980s..
More than 14,000 women were prescribed Depakine despite the
potential risks in pregnant women, authorities say, while an
association representing victims says it could have affected more
than 50,000 people in France over the years.
"The 10 million euros are a starting point," France's Health
minister Marisol Touraine told members of the lower house. "Over the
future years, the sums should be much higher," she said.
It was unclear on Wednesday whether Sanofi would be asked to
contribute to the fund being created from state coffers. The health
ministry had no immediate comment, while a spokeswoman for Sanofi
said in an emailed statement:
"The text of the amendment adopted by the National Assembly does not
draw any conclusions...as to the responsibilities of the various
actors that may be involved."
In an October interview with Reuters, Sanofi said it would accept
any blame attributed by a court over the harmful effects of the
treatment and the company had so far made no financial provisions
for compensating victims.
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French social affairs inspection agency IGAS estimated earlier this
year that between 2006 - when the medicine started carrying a health
warning - and 2014 - when prescription rules were further tightened
- some 425 to 450 babies suffered congenital birth defects or were
still-born due to the drug.
A judicial investigation was launched last year after a group of
families lodged a legal complaint, but no trial has been announced.
Depakine is also prescribed under other brand names and in more than
100 other countries. It lost its patent in 1998.
The Sanofi spokeswoman said there has been single claims in three
other countries, without giving further details.
($1 = 0.9350 euros)
(Editing by Alexander Smith)
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