Claude Évin Explained

Claude Évin
Office:Member of the National Assembly
for Loire-Atlantique's 8th constituency
Term Start:1 June 1997
Term End:17 June 2007
Predecessor:Étienne Garnier
Successor:Marie-Odile Bouillé
Office2:Minister of Social Affairs and Solidarity
Term Start2:13 May 1988
Term End2:15 May 1991
President2:François Mitterrand
Primeminister2:Michel Rocard
Predecessor2:Michèle Barzach
Successor2:Jean-Louis Bianco
Birth Date:29 June 1949
Birth Place:Le Cellier, France
Nationality:French
Party:Socialist Party
Profession:Lawyer

Claude Évin (born 29 June 1949) is a French politician and lawyer.

He was first elected in 1978.[1] Prior to becoming a member of parliament, Claude Évin was the deputy mayor of Saint-Nazaire, a post he held until 1989. In his lengthy career, he held a variety of positions including Vice President of the National Assembly (1986–87); Minister for Health (1988–91) and Minister for Social Affairs (1988–91).[1] As Minister for Health, he proposed the French alcohol and tobacco policy law, now known as Loi Évin, to the parliament (Law 91-32 of 10 January 1991).

Since being replaced as an MP for Loire-Atlantique by Marie-Odile Bouillé, he has moved to chairing the French Hospital Federation (FHF).

Évin is also notable for mandating the drug company Roussel Uclaf to resume the distribution of mifepristone, an abortifactant, two days after the company's board voted 16–4 to discontinue its distribution due to concerns of the image of the company's majority-owner. This was regarding a negative public image related to the popular anti-abortion sentiments of France in the late 1980s. He stated "I could not permit the abortion debate to deprive women of a product that represents medical progress. From the moment government approval for the drug was granted, RU-486 became the moral property of women, not just the property of a drug company."[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés : M. Claude Évin . National Assembly.
  2. Book: Étienne-Émile Baulieu. Mort Rosenblum . 1991 . The "abortion pill" : RU-486, a woman's choice . New York . Simon & Schuster . 0-671-73816-X . registration .
    Book: Lader, Lawrence . 1991 . RU 486 : the pill that could end the abortion wars and why American women don't have it . Reading . Addison-Wesley . 0-201-57069-6 . registration .
    Book: Villaran, Gilda . RU 486 . 155–190 . Schlegelmilch, Bodo B. . 1998 . Marketing ethics : an international perspective . London . Thomson Learning . 1-86152-191-X.
    Ulmann, André . 2000 . The development of mifepristone: a pharmaceutical drama in three acts . J Am Med Womens Assoc . 55 . 3 Suppl . 117–20 . 10846319.