Between 2018 and 2022, four patients died unexplained at the Remiremont hospital center. Their families have decided to file a complaint for “manslaughter” and hope to clarify the circumstances of these deaths.
The files accumulate against the hospital of Remiremont, in the Vosges. This Wednesday, a new family announces its intention to file a complaint for “manslaughter” after the unexplained death of a relative in the hospital center, learned BFMTV, confirming information from France news. The health establishment is now the subject of five complaints, including four for “manslaughter”.
On December 5, 2018, Silvio Zanin’s wife was treated by the emergency room for severe pain in the lower abdomen. A doctor diagnoses Claudette with acute pancreatitis which requires her hospitalization and follow-up by an oncologist. Against all odds, the 51-year-old woman died of cardiac arrest three days after being admitted to Remiremont hospital. What are the reasons that led to this death?
Silvio Zanin wonders about the care of his wife which, according to him, includes many inconsistencies, with a minimized diagnosis. During her stay in the hospital, the patient’s blood pressure and heart rate were, for example, high while Claudette was bedridden. His relatives wonder if his treatment for blood pressure has been given to him.
“He was completely lost”
The Zanin family points to a lack of resources and staff in this hospital and claims to have never seen a doctor during Claudette’s stay. After the death, no doctor, according to Silvio Zanin, would have been able to give the exact time of death, nor to explain the reasons.
“The doctor who took care of my wife started crying, saying to me: ‘I don’t know, I don’t know anymore’. He was completely lost,” he explains to France info.
Silvio Zanin’s lawyer, Me Nancy Risacher, tells BFMTV.com that the manslaughter complaint will be filed later this week. It will thus be added to the three previous files already in progress, which we announced in mid-December.
The first complaint for manslaughter against the hospital dates back to May 2022: Jean-Bernard Rouillon initiated proceedings after the unexplained death of his 59-year-old wife, which he also attributes to negligence by medical teams, he explains to us.
“Disturbing Similarities”
On November 9, the Souque family in turn entered into the legal proceedings after the death of Martine, 67. The 60-year-old was admitted to hospital last summer after breaking her femur. But a few days after her operation, the patient, who was in good health, died without explanation.
“We fell from the clouds because we went from a situation where there was nothing serious to a sudden and unexplained degradation”, explained at the end of November to BFMTV.com Angelique, the daughter of the victim.
When the family tries to understand what happened to Martine Souque, she comes up against a wall: “We have deaths every day, we don’t always know the cause”, they would have told her. The misunderstanding is the same on the side of Azidine who learned of the death of his mother in July after a minor knee operation. He also decided to file a complaint on December 7.
The similarities between these cases are “very disturbing”, reacts Me Nancy Risacher. “Has the hospital made mistakes because it lacks staff and resources, or is it notorious incompetence?” she asks.
More complaints to come?
“Alas, it’s not over”, slips us this Wednesday the lawyer who is studying the files of other families for similar facts and who could in turn decide to file a complaint.
“On the one hand, tongues are loosening, it’s a good thing, but on the other, this surge of potential victims is chilling”, comments Me Risacher.
In parallel with these four procedures for manslaughter, a fifth complaint targets this same hospital centre, this time for a diagnostic error. “My client fractured ten ribs without this being noted during the scanner carried out by the Remiremont hospital. An error from which he is currently suffering the consequences, in particular at the level of the lungs”, underlines the lawyer.
Contacted in early December by BFMTV.com, the director of the hospital, Dominique Chauveau, recognizes “communication errors” with the families of the victims. With our colleagues from France info, he adds: “From a medical point of view, nothing allows us to analyze any fault of the public hospital service.”
