opening of a judicial investigation after the death of an emergency doctor in April 2020

2023-05-16 18:02:05

A judicial investigation was opened in Lons-le-Saunier after a complaint filed by the family of Eric Loupiac, an emergency doctor who died of Covid-19 in April 2020, the public prosecutor announced on Tuesday May 16.

« M^me Loupiac, widow of Doctor Loupiac, seized the dean of the examining magistrates by filing a complaint against X with constitution of a civil party, for acts of involuntary homicide and non-assistance to person in danger “, said Lionel Pascal. This complaint was filed in January.

The D^r Loupiac, 60, worked at Lons-le-Saunier hospital. He had been one of the first caregivers killed by the coronavirus. The one who was also a delegate of the Association of Emergency Physicians of France (AMUF) in the Jura had wanted to go for treatment in the service of Professor Didier Raoult: he had died in an intensive care unit in Marseille.

Claire Loupiac had already filed a complaint against X for “manslaughter” and “endangering the lives of others” after the death of her husband in August 2020. But the preliminary investigation carried out by the Lons prosecution had been dismissed in July 2022. The family lawyer, M^e Antoine Vey, seized the dean of the investigating judges of the Lons-le-Saunier judicial court in early 2023, to relaunch the procedure.

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“Lack of adequate protections”

“The opening of this judicial investigation is a small relief for me”explained Claire Loupiac. “Despite the evidence, I felt like nothing happened. We left the matter unaddressed. My husband was contaminated, I know how it happened. We wanted to hide it, ignore it. So it’s a relief because an investigation and expertise will be able to begin and I want to know the truth: who is responsible for my husband’s death? »

M^me Loupiac believes that her husband had been infected with the virus at his workplace, his family being confined. She denounced during her first complaint “breaches of the safety obligations incumbent on the hospital” as well as “the lack of adequate protection for caregivers”which did not have enough FFP2 masks.

The hospital centre, while expressing its “care” towards the doctor’s family, considered that he had taken sufficient measures, pointing out that less than 25 agents out of 1,450 had been diagnosed with Covid-19, which is less than the estimated average in the general population.

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The World with AFP