A doctor sanctioned on appeal by his order for having signed an article against homeopathy

The disciplinary body of the Order of Physicians confirmed on appeal a warning against a doctor who signed an article against “alternative” medicine, published in 2018 in Le Figaro. This is the first decision rendered on appeal within the framework of this forum, which makes the sanction final and irrevocable. This forum notably relaunched the debate on homeopathy, leading a year later to its dereimbursement by Health Insurance. At that time, homeopathic products were still reimbursed at 30% (and up to 90% in Alsace Moselle) because they had a special status exempting them from proving their effectiveness. All other medications must demonstrate their effectiveness and safety to qualify for reimbursement.

"I do not regret. Today, I feel more annoyance than anything else. They had their symbolic victory, I had mine in the delisting of homeopathy. All this is behind me,” the sanctioned doctor, Dr. Vincent Ropars, told the specialized media Egora. This general practitioner based in Brittany received a warning, the smallest ordinal penalty. He is also ineligible for three years to the Council of the Order of Physicians. A symbolic sentence which, however, risks setting a precedent in the future, to the disadvantage of whistleblowers.

The text - initially signed by 124 doctors, quickly joined by more than 700 others - made it possible to denounce the use of the title of doctor to “promote false therapies with illusory effectiveness”. Homeopathy, like other practices described as “alternative medicine”, was targeted. “These practices are based on beliefs promising miraculous and risk-free healing,” the authors of the column then denounced. “They are ineffective beyond the placebo effect and are no less dangerous for that.” The doctors had particularly pointed out the risk of delayed diagnosis, “sometimes with dramatic consequences, particularly in the management of serious pathologies such as cancer”.

Several doctors had already been sanctioned by first instance disciplinary chambers of the Council of the Order of Physicians, a sort of small internal tribunal of this structure, chaired by a magistrate. These sanctions followed complaints filed by the national union of homeopathic doctors. Around sixty of the signatories of the platform had been prosecuted, accused by the homeopaths’ union of “non-confraternity”. Among the sanctioned doctors, one had received a temporary suspension from practicing, others received warnings or reprimands. Everyone had appealed. This is the first time that an appeal decision has been rendered. And it is, unsurprisingly, not to the taste of the signatories.

The NoFakeMed collective, fighting against therapeutic abuses, deplored in a press release a “shocking” decision, “going against the grain of History”. Dr Pierre de Brémond d'Ars, head of the collective, indicated that he was waiting for "support from the Order of Physicians", recalling that the disciplinary chamber is independent of the Order. He is offended at having himself received a reprimand in 2018, the same disciplinary sanction as that inflicted on Professor Raoult in December 2021 for having communicated “information which was not based on any confirmed data” by promoting the hydroxychloroquine as a treatment against Covid-19.

The national disciplinary chamber of the Order of Physicians, in its judgment of December 2023, which AFP was able to consult, notably criticizes the forum for comments “exceeding in their tone the weighting expected of doctors when they express themselves publicly on a subject, even a controversial one. “The Order of Physicians refuses to apply article 39 (quackery) and article 32 (quality of care),” lamented another sanctioned doctor, Dr. Jean-Jacques Fraslin, on X (ex-Twitter) . “They think that ensuring brotherhood and order (in the sense of the absence of disorder) is a priority,” added Dr. Dominique Dupagne, former columnist on France Inter. Contacted by AFP, the Order of Physicians did not wish to react.