His late treatment had been fatal to him. A clinic in the suburbs of Toulouse was sentenced on Tuesday to 150,000 euro fine for the death in 2012 of a 39-year-old patient with pneumococcus, who had waited several hours before being examined by a doctor.

The Toulouse Criminal Court on the other hand, acquitted the emergency doctor prosecuted for manslaughter.

“A real medical disaster”

At the hearing on January 11, the prosecution had requested a fine of at least 150,000 euros for the Cedars clinic, located in Cornebarrieu (Haute-Garonne), and six months suspended prison sentence as well as a fine of 30,000 euros for this emergency doctor on August 15, 2012.

Deputy prosecutor Jean-Michel Peltier had pointed to “a real medical disaster in a clinic with a deadly organization”, as well as “medical deafness”.

The investigation revealed that the nurses had called the medical staff at least five times and the only response had been prescriptions, notably morphine.

She lost 40 to 50% chance of survival

The delay in care “caused the patient to lose 40 to 50% chance of survival”, according to an expert report carried out during the investigation.

On the other hand, for the defender of the doctor, Me Laurent de Caunes, “all the regulatory analyzes have been done”, but “an MRI did not give sufficiently clear elements on a congenital problem with the spleen”. Me Frédéric Douchez, lawyer of the clinic, indicated that he suffers appeal of judgment.

The relatives of the victim had not brought civil action in the criminal proceedings, awaiting the civil hearing to seek compensation.