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A well-known French urologist, appointed to a new commission to investigate online conspiracy theories and hate speech, resigned Thursday, citing a “smear campaign” against him.
Professor Guy Vallancien, a urologist with famous clients, said he was resigning from the commission after a “shameful, appalling and deceptive smear campaign”.
“I decided to leave and spoke to the presidency about it. I could have stayed but that would have created tensions within the committee and that is pointless. There were no good solutions.” , he explained.
The conspiracy commission is chaired by sociologist Gerald Bronner. The panel, announced by President Emmanuel Macron at the end of September, includes 15 experts from various fields who have been asked to produce a report by the end of the year on how to tackle conspiracy theories, disinformation and hate speech online.
Vallancien’s appointment had been publicly criticized by famous French whistleblower Irène Frachon who helped reveal deaths linked to a popular weight loss and diabetes pill called Mediator which has been sold for decades in France.
Frachon accused Vallancien of being one of a number of leading doctors who had “for many years tried to discredit, downplay or even deny the seriousness of the human costs of the Mediator”.
Marianne magazine also revealed how he was recently sanctioned for issuing a false medical certificate, while The Express magazine reported how he was the principal of a medical school involved in a scandal over the neglect of human bodies donated for research.
Vallancien has denied any responsibility for the scandal at the University of Paris-Descartes, which appeared in 2019.
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