It is an investigation that has the effect of a bomb.
On Wednesday January 26, the independent journalist Victor Castanet published a shocking book, entitled
Les Fossoyeurs
, with Fayard editions , after three years of investigation.
He reveals there an “institutional mistreatment” in place, according to him, in the nursing homes of the Orpea group, world leader in the sector with 1,100 establishments around the world, including 220 in France.
Based on 250 interviews, the reporter describes the disastrous living conditions of the residents of these retirement homes.
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Throughout his book, Victor Castanet accumulates testimonials, each more shocking than the other.
But the Orpea group denies it as a whole, contesting these accusations which it considers "
false, outrageous and prejudicial
".
He claims to have seized his lawyers to give "
all the follow-up, including on the legal level
".
Meanwhile its shares on the stock market fell about 30% in two days.
This is not the first time that abuse and ill-treatment have been brought to light in nursing homes.
Two shocking documentaries of "Forbidden Zone" and "Special Envoy"
Before
Les Fossoyeurs ,
the
Orpea group had already found itself in the sights of journalists, in this case those of M6 and France 2.
» in private nursing homes.
The market leader was singled out for a permanent search for savings, which "
affects all expenses related to the accommodation of residents
», and in particular the food budget, set at one euro per meal in some establishments. Direct competitor, the Les Opalines group is also strongly criticized for its insufficient staff, the sloppy toilets of the residents or even cases of threats and abuse. A nurse's aide from one of these establishments was also sentenced to a five-year ban on practice and a suspended prison sentence for beating a resident.
Two weeks earlier, France 2 broadcast a similar documentary, called "
Retirement home, behind the facade
".
Based on the testimonies of relatives of elderly people and staff members of Orpea and Korian establishments, this report was filmed with a “
discreet camera
”.
It had made it possible to reveal numerous failures in the systems: a resident "
left like an animal on a hospital bed
" and died in the emergency room, residents unable to feed themselves for lack of help, or even rationed care equipment in a logic of pure profit.
Residents filmed in degrading positions in Aveyron
More recently, a case caused a stir in Aveyron.
In September 2020, the management of a nursing home located in Onet-le-Château filed a complaint, after the discovery of a private online group on which 11 employees were conversing.
The latter published in particular degrading and humiliating videos and photos of residents suffering from Alzheimer's disease, accompanied by contemptuous comments.
Food deprivation was also mentioned.
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Questioned by France 3 Occitanie, the director Frédérique Modolo had condemned "
monstrous, unworthy images
", before resigning to "
point out a dysfunction of the establishment
".
Finally, four of the employees involved were dismissed and the management filed a complaint for "
mistreatment of vulnerable people
".
The “hell” of a nursing home in Hérault
An emblematic example of the abuse that our elders can suffer.
In August 2020, the family of a former resident of an Ehpad in Ganges (Hérault), filed a complaint for "
harassment of a vulnerable person having the effect of undermining their rights and their dignity, of altering their health
" , revealed
Midi Libre
last August.
At the time of the first confinement, two women visit their mother, a resident of this establishment.
They discover a bump on his forehead and a seriously damaged arm.
The director explains to them that the old lady fell twice.
After examination, it turns out that she suffers from a broken collarbone and a frontal hematoma.
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A few days later, the two women return to find their mother tied to a chair.
They decide to make him leave the nursing home and stop his treatment.
Gradually regaining her lucidity, the former resident recounts the "
hell
" she experienced: the cold showers at 6:30 a.m., the nurse who pressed on her wound, reproaching her for making "
cinemas
"... Finally, the victim dies two months after his release from the establishment, for a very advanced liver cancer that he had not been diagnosed.
One of his daughters filed a complaint and an investigation is underway.
A recidivist caregiver in Arcueil
A torturer caught in the act.
Suspecting violence, the family of a resident of a nursing home in Arcueil, in Val-de-Marne, had placed a camera in her room at the beginning of 2019, according to France 3. The scene captured is from unspeakable violence: the caregiver who takes care of the old lady shouts at her "
shut your mouth
", before kicking her while she is on the ground.
The victim begins to scream and beg him: “
Mercy for me!
".
But the man takes her by the legs, dragging her to the ground and grabbing her hair.
Confused by these images, the attacker was placed in police custody and sentenced to five years in prison, a sentence reduced to three years on appeal.
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The man was not at his first attempt, according to
Le Parisien
: in May 2018, he had already extremely brutally thrown a second 58-year-old resident on his bed.
A bar of the headboard had broken under the impact.
Judged for this act in January 2021, he had been sentenced to one year in prison, which he will escape for a confusion of sentences decided by the Créteil criminal court.
