France's new health minister, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, on Friday confirmed she was among several pharmacists under investigation for allegedly accepting gifts from one of the country's top laboratories. Firmin Le Bodo was appointed after her predecessor resigned in protest at the government's contentious new immigration law.
A day after the 55-year-old took over from Aurélien Rousseau, an article in the online investigative journal Mediapart alleged that she had received €20,000 worth of gifts from Urgo Laboratories between 2015 and 2020.
Bruno Dieudonné, the public prosecutor in Le Havre, said an investigation had been opened into the charge of unauthorised receipt by a health professional of benefits procured by a person producing or marketing health products.
The inquiry into Firmin Le Bodo and other pharmacists was launched following a case at the Dijon criminal court last January in which Urgo Laboratories was fined 1.125 million euros – of which 625,000 euros was suspended – for offering gifts to pharmacists in return for giving up commercial discounts.
"The secrecy of the investigation prevents me from communicating further," added Dieudonné. "In particular on the identity of the pharmacists targeted by this investigation."
Mediapart alleges 21 presents ranging from watches, bottles of wine, magnums of champagne to weekend gift boxes were sent to Firmin Le Bodo from Urgo.
"Urgo was thus seeking to build pharmacist loyalty and increase their sales margins," the website said.
On Friday Firmin Le Bodo told France Bleu Normandie: "As part of my duties as a pharmacist, an investigation is indeed underway.
"Allow me to reserve the discussions that I should have with the competent authorities.”
Blow for Macron
The emergence of the inquiry is hugely embarrassing for Emmanuel Macron's administration.
The president, who left to visit French troops stationed in the Middle East as part of a charm offensive, lost Rousseau over an immigration bill that was passed with the support of his arch rival Marine Le Pen.
Rousseau, a former communist, earlier told the French daily newspaper Le Monde: "It's not possible for me to defend this text."
Meanwhile Le Pen, of the far right National Rally (RN), hailed the bill as an "ideological victory".
The legislation shows the difficulties Macron faces in governing without a parliamentary majority, which he lost in the June 2022 parliamentary elections after beating Le Pen for a second time in a presidential election.
While Le Pen endorsed the tightened immigration measures, key left-leaning members of Macron's Renaissance indicated they could no longer do so, accusing the government bowing to pressure from the far right.
"The political crisis around the immigration bill is a moment of truth where all the fragilities of Emmanuel Macron's mandate are coming together," Le Monde said in an editorial.
