“Malfunctions” in a busy periodwhich led to a delay in the diagnosis: the administration published Friday his investigation report into Lucas’ death25 years old, in 2023 in the emergency room of Hyères (Var), after septic shock. The young man died on the night of September 30 to October 1, 2023, after hours of agony, victim of septic shock linked to an invasive meningococcal infection.
Dysfunctions and disorganization
For Corinne Godefroy, receiving this IGAS report more than a year after the death of her son was both “very sad and comforting” : “The report is damning for yesterday’s hospital emergency rooms. For us, it reinforced what we already knew, since we experienced it. It’s dramatic and I find it very sad for Lucas because we realize that there are failures in their service at all levels..
What the report clarifies is that there is no organization in the department, that is to say that no one takes charge of it, even a nurse to monitor it regularly, to worry about time in time of his health. In fact, no one is responsible for the sick people in the corridors.”
“A doctor saw him ‘quickly’”
Corinne Godefroy recalls that her son died of septicemic shock, and that his death could have been avoided if he had been caught in time. Yet, “you will have to wait almost 4 hours for it to actually be examined”. Meanwhile, his mother waits in her car in the hospital parking lotand tries to exchange text messages with his already very weak son.
“Even at that moment in fact, we see in the report, the doctor did not take into account the seriousness of Lucas, even though he died a few hours later: it was in a corridor, he did not is not undressed, we do not take back our constants. This is what Lucas will tell us in his text messages: a doctor saw him ‘quickly done’, but didn’t say anything”.
The report recalls that the emergencies, that day, experienced an influx of patients of 19%, with 114 people to be treated. Lucas is experiencing real “agony” in the words of his mother, but, on top of that, his family cannot access the hospital emergency room to be by his side. His only recourse remains text messages: he could no longer speak.
This is what this IGAS report points out, which reminds us that families must be given the opportunity to access the patient’s bedside: “A law exists, in these cases to see the patient for at least five minutes, but I was not aware of it at that time“.
-Recommendations at national level
What Corinne Godefroy hopes, by publicizing the affair which cost the death of her son, is an awareness of the lack of resources, but also of the lack of trainingfor example for the treatment, in emergencies, of cases of septicemia: “It is time that saves you from such cases. The sooner it is taken, the better off you are.“.
After this affair, an investigation continues since Lucas’ family filed a complaint. But she didn’t have no feedback from hospital management : “There can be no excuses from the hospital since for the moment, they do not recognize any fault, any error. The report will perhaps change things since now it is written“.
And Lucas’ mother also thinks about what this report may change for the treatment of patients in all emergencies in France. The aim of this media coverage of his case is clear: “First do justice to Lucas, and then make things change, with all the recommendations [du rapport de l’Igas] which are made and all valid at the national level”.
