French Hydroxychloroquine Doc Sued By Medical Association

Story By: Ernest Bio BogoreSub-EditorJoseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

Story By: Ernest Bio BogoreSub-EditorJoseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

The ‘Trumpian’ French doctor who gained fame for his promotion of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 is reportedly being sued by a medical association for breaking nine counts of the code of ethics.

Didier Raoult, 68, the doctor who promoted hydroxychloroquine that was also touted by President Trump as a cure for COVID-19, is being sued by the Medical Association in Bouches-du-Rhone for unethical behaviour, among other accusations.

According to the newspaper Le Parisien, Raoult, the director of the IHU Mediterranee Infection Foundation, is accused of breaking nine ethical codes, including misinforming the public.

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The lawsuit has been filed by the Medical Association in Bouches-du-Rhone.

In March, Raoult claimed that hydroxychloroquine offered “spectacular” results after testing 24 patients.

He even said: “We know how to cure the illness.”

These claims got noticed and backed up by US President Donald Trump who famously touted the drug as a miracle cure for coronavirus last summer. He had labelled it a “game-changer” and said that the FDA should fast track approval for the drug, despite there being no proof that actually worked.

The claim sparked a global race for governments to get their hands on the drug, despite doctors saying that hydroxychloroquine was not effective when treating people with COVID-19. In fact, doctors actually said that the president’s claim had caused a shortage of the drug for people who actually needed it.

Drafted by the French-speaking Society of Infectious Pathology (SPILF) with 700 members, the complaint alleges that Raoult is guilty of nine breaches of the code of ethics.

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SPILF president Pierre Tattevin highlighted the professor’s “obstinacy” with regards to hydroxychloroquine.

The professor will now have to appear before a regional disciplinary panel organised by the Order of Physicians.

According to the National Council of the Order of Physicians, no timetable has been set for now, but they estimate that a hearing would “probably” take place in 2021.

Raoult’s lawyer Fabrice Di Vizio said: “All this is not law, but communication.”

He believes that his client’s acquittal will be “self-evident”.

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According to reports, when Donald Trump was diagnosed coronavirus at the beginning of October, there were calls for him to take the controversial drug again, despite him being treated with an experimental cocktail of other drugs.

The Washington Post reports it is not the first time but the American president has made similar claims. At one point, he even appeared to claim that people should drink bleach as a means of killing off the virus.

The president son, Donald Jr, was even suspended briefly from Twitter for sharing footage that claimed that hydroxychloroquine could cure COVID-19 and that people did not need to wear face masks.

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