Occitanie

Rodez (12) : “The ophthalmology practice is closed until further notice”.

Dr. Sandrine Foulquier, an ophthalmologist in Rodez, Aveyron, has been banned from practicing since November 4, 2021 for “non-compliance with the vaccination obligation” even though she has just been elected, this Sunday, as a member of the Aveyron Medical Council.

There are 1,350 liberal health personnel [out of 374,000] who are refractory to the vaccination obligation and who have been banned from practicing, including 160 doctors, according to the director of the Health Insurance Thomas Fatome. Among them, Dr. Sandrine Foulquier, ophthalmologist in Rodez, Aveyron, who had to close her practice on November 4. With a ban on being replaced! She explains herself in a long letter addressed to her patients that we publish in-extenso.

“Madam, Sir,

The ophthalmology practice is closed until further notice

I, the undersigned Dr. Foulquier Sandrine, am prohibited from practicing as of November 04, 2021 for non-compliance with the vaccination obligation of health professionals. My request for recognition of my natural immunity acquired and verified against covid-19, made on 08/10/2021 to Mr. Ricordeau, Director General of the A.R.S Occitanie, has remained without response.

Unless my situation changes, while waiting for the result of a legal appeal, I do not wish :

  • nor submit to an injection of the proposed vaccine against covid, because the benefit/risk ratio does not seem to me to justify it. Free consent to care is a value that I defend for others and for myself. The natural immunity that I have acquired is at least as valid and long-lasting as the one acquired after a double-dose vaccination, so I consider that I do not represent a danger for the health of my patients.
  • nor risk, by continuing my professional activity, and I quote “a criminal offence punishable by a fine provided for fourth class offences, or even, in case of more than three times within a period of thirty days, by six months imprisonment and a fine of 3750 euros as well as the additional penalty of community service”, especially as the CPAM will be able to, and I quote again, “suspend reimbursements of my acts and, if necessary, take action for the recovery of undue payments.

Please note that unvaccinated physicians are also prohibited from being replaced by vaccinated physicians. Access to care for all is not the main concern of current health policies.

If you encounter difficulties in accessing care, please contact

  • the A.R.S Occitanie and the agency of Aveyron
  • our elected representatives, deputies and senators
  • the council of the order of the doctors

I will try to answer within 8 days to the requests of medical file that you can address to me (cf. postal address or email below or mailbox at disposal).

I am truly sorry for this situation. I thank you for your understanding,
Sincerely.
Dr Sandrine Foulquier.”

No medical indication

Dr. Foulquier is furious about this measure which consists in not wanting to replace doctors who refuse vaccination. Because it is the patients who are penalized and not only the doctor. “It is simply a punitive measure,” she says. It has nothing to do with a medical or health provision”.
Sandrine Foulquier does not accept, either, that her immune status is not taken into account. Natural immunity is more effective and durable than a vaccine.
I am not anti-vax,” says Dr. Foulquier. I advise vaccination for the elderly and/or people at risk. But, in my personal case, the benefit-risk ratio is not in favor of the injection. Vaccination is not justified.”

As one would expect, the case is making a big splash in the department. Denis Capoulade, acting president of the Order of Physicians, explained in the local press that it is important “not to defy the authority, to practice despite the suspension of practice and get into trouble administratively and judicially.”

Elected to the Council of the Order

It is therefore an unvaccinated and angry doctor who stood for election to the Council of the Order of Aveyron. These professional elections were necessary after the invalidation of the previous elections by the administrative court of Toulouse on June 17th. Irregularities noted by the court reflect enmities among the doctors of the department.
Hence the new elections, this Sunday, November 21, 2021, to which Dr. Foulquier considered it useful to run in pairs. And, against all odds, she was elected with a colleague from the hospital.
This shows that it is sometimes good to “challenge authority” to get things done. This is true in medicine as in many other disciplines.

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