By Barbara Casassus

The scandal over the diabetes drug benfluorex, which is alleged to have caused an estimated 500 to 2,000 deaths from valvular heart disease in France, is on course to trigger a major overhaul of the country’s drug and health safety system.

A devastating 244-page report on the affair, published last month by the governmental General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS), accused the pharmaceutical company Servier, headquartered in the suburbs of Paris, of misleading authorities about the true nature of benfluorex, which was sold under the brand name Mediator.

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Image Fred Tanneau, Stringer