Macron’s new health minister investigated over ‘€20,000 worth of gifts’
Emmanuel Macron faced a new headache on Friday after his health minister confirmed she was under investigation for allegedly receiving €20,000 (£17,326.80) worth of “gifts”.
Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo took over the cabinet post on Thursday after her predecessor, Aurélien Rousseau, resigned in protest against a tough new immigration Bill that has caused splits in Mr Macron’s centrist government.
Later that day, Bruno Dieudonné, Le Havre’s public prosecutor, said an investigation had been opened into alleged “unauthorised receipt [of benefits] by a healthcare professional”.
On Friday, Ms Firmin-Le Bodo, a pharmacist by profession, confirmed that she was the person in question.
“As part of my duties as a pharmacist, an investigation is underway. Please allow me to reserve any exchanges I may have with the relevant authorities,” she told local media without elaborating further.
The revelation follows an article by investigative website Mediapart reporting that Ms Firmin-Le Bodo had received “undeclared” gifts worth a total of €20,000 from pharmaceutical company Urgo Laboratories between 2015 and 2020.
Ms Firmin-Le Bodo, who runs a pharmacy in Le Havre, “is suspected of having luxury goods – watches, bottles of wine and magnums of champagne, weekend gift boxes, etc – delivered to her on 21 occasions between 2015 and 2020 – worth a total of €20,000, from Urgo Laboratories”, Mediapart reported in detail.
“Urgo was thus seeking to win the loyalty of pharmacists and increase their sales margins”, said Mediapart.
“Anti-gift” laws prohibit pharmacists from receiving benefits from healthcare manufacturers. In January 2023, Urgo Laboratories was fined €1.1 million for offering sweeteners to pharmacists in return for them giving up trade discounts, meaning it could sell products to pharmacies at full price.
The Telegraph has approached Urgo for comment.
Ms Firmin-Le Bodo was previously minister for territorial organisation and health professions.
The embarrassing revelation comes as Mr Macron seeks to turn the page following his controversial immigration law, which adds tougher criteria for foreigners to receive welfare while making it possible for undocumented workers to apply for residency permits in sectors with labour shortages.
On Wednesday, Mr Macron denied that the law pandered to nationalists, saying that to stop the hard-Right being elected to government “we need to handle the problems that they feed on”.
The French president is also under fire after saying that Gérard Depardieu, the actor who has been charged with rape and faces a litany of sexual assault claims, was the target of “a manhunt”.
“The presumption of innocence is part of our values”, said Mr Macron, adding that he felt “huge admiration” for the “immense actor”.
But Générations Féministes, a feminist group, said his comments were “an insult” to all women who had suffered sexual violence, “first and foremost those who accused Depardieu”.
