The guest of this Debriefing, Maitre Nancy Risacher, is a general practitioner at the bar of Epinal. Also very active on the front line of the fight for the defense of suspended caregivers, today, she represents, alongside Me David Guyon, families of patients who died inexplicably at the Remiremont hospital in the Vosges. In this interview, she tells us about their legal battle. Yet entered the establishment for “classic” care requests (fracture of the femur, acute pancreatitis, etc.), three patients, aged 59, 67 and 78, died two years apart between July 2020 and July 2022 , shortly after their treatment by the emergency department. If any medical act can lead to complications, these cases are nonetheless “troubling”underlines the lawyer: “You don’t die from a fractured femur”. Today, the hospital is the subject of five complaints: three for manslaughter but also one for endangering the lives of others (the fifth is being filed). The fourth complainant, a 46-year-old man, who surrendered after a fall in hospital last October; there, the caregivers had not detected ten broken ribs, yet detected ” without appeal “ in an imaging center in Nancy a few weeks later. Through these legal proceedings, the objective of the lawyer for these families: “Lifting the law of silence” et « shed light on what is happening at the Remiremont hospital”.
Following these filings of complaints, the Epinal prosecution opened a judicial investigation “against X for manslaughter”. An announcement that Mr. Risacher welcomes, who wishes to recall the purpose of these legal proceedings: they are not part of a desire to make the public hospital feel guilty, already in great difficulty due to the lack of financial and human resources, but from a desire to elucidate “the disturbing elements” that surrounds the care of patients who die in suspicious circumstances. “You have people whose femur fracture reduction surgery is going very well. They are in the process of going to a rehabilitation center. And then all of a sudden, nothing is going right. They die within hours. We do not understand, ”explains the lawyer, who specifies: “When we look at the evolution of patient care, we realize that there are inconsistencies, vagueness, a lack of transparency, a lack of explanations and, in the end, there is a big question mark for all families: what happened? » The causes of these suspicious deaths are not known: only its consequences are, adds the woman in law.
Charged on January 2 with “get free publicity” in a statement from the Association for the defense, maintenance, improvement of maternity and hospital (ADEMAT-H), the lawyer wishes to respond on our channel that she wants to be “to be the spokesperson for its customers” : “In a hospital, if you are more afraid of the care than of falling ill or of the pathology from which you suffer, it starts to become serious”hammer Me Risacher.
Today, through these procedures, families of deceased patients have been able to meet. From their exchanges was born an association of the victims of this hospital whose vocation is to be able to allow “people who do not have the possibility, the desire or the reason to file a complaint, to be able to exchange experiences”. “A solidarity has developed”rejoices our guest.