This archive report was first published on 16 December 2019.
France's strong state presence in regulating daily life, including health matters, can sometimes feel like a double-edged sword. This is particularly evident in the country's death certification process, which has remained largely unchanged for centuries.
According to Dr. Olivier Bouchy, vice president of the French Medical Council in Meuse, the tradition of doctors certifying deaths dates back to the royal court. 'Who declared a death in the royal court? It was the doctor of the king,' Dr. Bouchy said. 'We remain rooted in very ancient traditions.'
However, this tradition can lead to a lack of doctors available to certify deaths, especially in rural areas. Frédéric Deleplanque, whose father-in-law Jean-Luc Bajeux died at home, experienced this firsthand. 'We felt abandoned by the state,' he said. 'We were nothing.'
Mr. Deleplanque's experience began on a Saturday morning when he discovered his father-in-law slumped in his wheelchair. He called an emergency operator, who instructed him to touch his father-in-law to confirm his death. 'I told him he was deceased, but he insisted. So, there you go, I touched him, he's cold,' Mr. Deleplanque recalled.
