the revelations of “L’Œil du 20h” on Irène Grosjean, figurehead of a practice that is sometimes out of control

It was through her that the scandal happened. Irène Grosjean, 92, self-proclaimed* naturopathic doctor, is an influential personality on social networks. She found herself at the heart of the controversy that arose in August about practitioners present on Doctolib. Dix-seven naturopaths who referred to his therapies were banned from the online dating platform after reports on Twitter from L’Extracteur, a collective that alerts on “the dangers of certain pseudo-alternatives in health and diet”.

Anti-conventional medicine, anti-vaccine, Irène Grosjean promotes raw food (or “living food”, a food practice that consists of ingesting only raw fruits and vegetables), purges and fasting to cure the most serious diseases. .

Jean ** made the bitter experience of it. It’s the first time he’s broken the silence since his father’s death. In 2019, the latter, suffering from prostate cancer, turned away from chemotherapy, convinced by the precepts of Irène Grosjean. Leaves of graviola and elderberry, bottles of essential oils, aromatic waters, castor oil… Jean kept all the products that his father took for treatment, on the advice of the naturopath.

“She took his hand and said, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to be a centenarian.’

Jean, son of a patient of Irène Grosjean

at “The Eye of 20 hours”

“Overnight, he left his oncologist. Madame Grosjean told her: ‘It’s not good, medicine is not made for you. I will treat you with my own method’he says. When you’re done, you’re going to believe that person. She sold him dreams.” Jean’s father stops his chemotherapy on the advice of the naturopath. Three months before his death, when he was exhausted, Irène Grosjean encouraged him to refuse any medical care and even promised him that, “in a short time, (he will be) much better”assures Jean.

Faced with the deterioration of his father’s state of health, he accompanies him to a consultation and films with his phone. Stunned by the naturopath’s speech, Jean questions him: “How come you refused to give him a transfusion? That’s not chemo. If he needs it…” Irène Grosjean refutes: “It’s another person’s blood, poisoned blood. I disagree. He’s had enough of his. Poisoned blood, he needs to be cleaned up.”

Contacted by “L’Œil du 20h”, Daniel Serin, one of the oncologists of this patient, describes this speech as irresponsible. “When she says to someone: ‘Stop the treatment, I’m going to cure you by taking the purge’, it’s serious because it loses a patient’s chances of recovery”judges the vice-president of the Institut Sainte-Catherine in Avignon and editor-in-chief of the journal Psycho-oncology.

Charges to which “L’Œil du 20h” wanted to confront Irène Grosjean. We tried to reach her, as did her lawyer, but our emails went unanswered. We went to Provence, not far from Avignon, where the naturopath consults, organizes courses and training. His estate even houses a “museum of aromas and perfumes”. Her daughter, Nelly Grosjean, also a naturopath, manufactures and markets a range of aromatic products there, which Irène Grosjean recommends to her patients.

Silent for several weeks, we nevertheless managed to get in touch with her that day. Faced with the testimonies that we were able to collect and that we presented to her, the naturopath assumes: “The disease is not there to destroy us, it is a cry for help from our body asking us to help it evacuate all the dirt that has been introduced into it”. Irène Grosjean even concludes: “All the people I have followed, and who have done what I said, are doing very well”.

Today, in the world of alternative therapies, Irène Grosjean is being emulated.

Hundreds of practitioners claim his methods and even pose alongside him on their website. Like this iridologist who exercises in the Paris region a practice which would consist in determining the state of health of a patient by examining his iris. Cost of the consultation: 120 euros. And a list of recommendations that spans six pages: “consumption of shellfish”, “hot water bottle to stimulate the liver”, “dry brushing the body before the shower”… To date, no clinical study has demonstrated the effectiveness of this practice.

According to Christian Gravel, president of the Interministerial Mission vigilance and struggle against sectarian aberrations (Miviludes), control of the alternative therapy market must be strengthened. “We are faced with a phenomenon that is growing. (…) It is all the more developed that, since the health crisis, since the explosion of conspiracy theses on the web, the benchmarks fly in splinters.”

“Some find themselves in the arms of those who, appearing as saviors, are in fact executioners.”

Christian Gravel, president of Miviludes

at “L’Oeil du 20h”

According to our information, of the 4,020 referrals received by Miviludes last year, 25% concern complementary and alternative medicine.