At least 140 complaints have been filed against the managers of Ehpad Orpea, Korian and Domusvi in recent years and are still being examined to this day, according to the count made by franceinfo on Friday May 13. A large part denounce institutional mistreatment and were filed after the release of the book Les Fossoyeurs by Victor Castanet last January, but others date from well before, in particular during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lawyer Sarah Saldmann claims to have filed 80 complaints for “manslaughter”, “endangering the life of others” and “non-assistance to person in danger” concerning only the Orpea group in recent months. To date, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, which centralizes the complaints in this case, claims to have received 55. It has opened a preliminary investigation for “institutional abuse” at Orpea. This is in addition to the preliminary investigation for “insider trading” opened by the national financial prosecutor’s office.
In addition, at least 60 complaints have been filed for acts of mistreatment in the Korian and Domusvi groups and are still being examined.
Regarding Orpea, Sarah Saldmann says she has evidence of dehydration “systemic” of some residents. “Falls that are not taken care of or taken care of much too late”, details the lawyer. “Weight loss is something spectacular. I have the before and after photos, and it shows.” “Afterwards, there is all that is institutional abuse, emphasizes Sarah Saldmann, it means people who are left to their own devices, people who are rendered incontinent because they are not accompanied, people who are sometimes put to bed at 4 p.m. and who are not taken care of. “
And these complaints are only the tip of the iceberg, according to the lawyer. “I received in all more than 1,000 reports for Orpea, it’s still a huge number”she believes, claiming to receive “fifty” of reports per week, by e-mail, call or post. She is convinced “that we will achieve much more”.
“Among these reports, there are in particular employees who write to me anonymously to tell me that the situation has not necessarily changed from the inside.”
Sarah Saldmann, lawyerat franceinfo
Families of residents also write to the lawyer. They report that “the facts are just as serious at the moment”. “But unfortunately these families have no other solutions for their parent, she explains, and that, while waiting to find a better solution, they are obliged to leave their parent with Orpea.”
All these complaints and reports prove that “it is a reality that exists and which is not only in a minority in an isolated nursing home, she said again. “I have files all over France and all the people, says Sarah Saldmann, even those without supporting evidence say the same thing.” “At some point not all people can lie.”