Those close to her and her 79-year-old companion, very shocked, denounce a scandal and administrative principles leading to a “dramatic, unhealthy and shameful” result.
This Monday, June 6, after 8:30 a.m., a retiree living in the small town of Mèze (Hérault), worried about not hearing his companion, who had been away for twenty minutes in his bathroom, made a terrible discovery. She is fine there, but deceased, lying on a chair. “I was quite violently shocked. I absolutely did not expect it!”says the 79-year-old man.
No doctor
He calls the fire department. He tries unsuccessfully to call local general practitioners. The firefighters send him back to the 15th. Then to the ARS. He says in a tired voice: “People are of good will, but no doctor comes to certify the death. There is none. And I was told that it is forbidden to move the body. The body must remain as it is where he was this morning. We can’t even lay him down. We’re in a grotesque situation. And since this morning, she’s been falling apart…. It’s 5 p.m. and no one is coming. It’s becoming dramatic, unhealthy. and shameful. It’s outrageous to treat a corpse like that! It’s unacceptable.”
Without death certificate, impossible to act
The man, who goes from dejection to anger, denounces “unspeakable administrative pretexts!”. And specifies that it is also impossible for him to bring the funeral directors until the death has been confirmed by a doctor. “I am flabbergasted”.
With dignity, he explains that their attending physician “retired in Costa Rica”that Mèze becomes “a medical desert”. He drops: “In Mèze, it is forbidden to die. It is a tragedy for the deceased and for those who remain alive”. Especially on a holiday Monday. He stifles a sob. “It’s very hard !”
family anger
His son-in-law is angry: “There is no doctor. No one is coming. It’s scandalous! We can’t leave the body as it is. The gendarmes ended up saying that they might come tomorrow morning”. Much too late for a family extremely shocked by what they see as a lack of respect for the deceased person and then for their loved ones.
Joints, the Hérault firefighters, indicate that the procedure was followed in the normal way. That they can’t move and that they’ve sent back to 15 and the regulating doctor. And to see that “city doctors no longer travel”. At 15, it is indicated that due to medical secrecy, it is necessary to contact the CHU.