France’s Covid health chief under fire for switch to plastic surgery

FRANCE’S former health minister has been criticised for taking up a lucrative job as a plastic surgeon at a clinic that offers penis enlargement.

Olivier Véran, who practised as a neurologist before entering politics, became a household name during the pandemic as a spokesman for Emmanuel Macron’s government.

After he was ousted in a reshuffle earlier this year, however, the 43-year-old is now training as a plastic surgeon at the Clinique des Champs-elysées, which offers procedures including penis enlargement for up to £4,000.

Critics have accused the Left-leaning MP for Isere in the Alps of enriching himself rather than helping to solve France’s dire shortage of doctors. Mr Veran defended his decision, saying plastic surgery helped people “feel better about themselves and their bodies”.

In January, Mr Macron appointed 34-year-old Gabriel Attal as France’s youngest prime minister in a reshuffle that saw him jettison several Left-leaning ministers, including Mr Véran.

Afterwards, Mr Véran swiftly announced his intention to return to medicine while continuing as an MP, saying he had missed his former job.

However, in an interview with Le Figaro published this week, he said he had decided not to go back to the neurology practice he once ran in Grenoble because he feared his past as a minister would “skew” relations with patients.

He also told Le Figaro that he plans to get involved in a “self-defence” organisation for women and an association for breast cancer victims.

His career change has provoked a backlash among health professionals. He was accused of seeking financial gain and sending a terrible message at a time when there is a dearth of surgeons in his former speciality, leading to long waiting times for treatment.

“Olivier Véran used to ask independent doctors to do their bit to relieve the burden on state hospitals, and he used to denounce them when they asked for meagre raises,” general practitioner Jérôme Marty told RMC radio.

“He says neurology has changed a lot and rather than brush up on his skills, he’s going into plastic surgery to train at an establishment that does G-spot amplification (€700 to €1,600) and penis thickening (€2,800 to €4,600).”

The Champs-élysées clinic’s website also offers “buttock augmentation” for €2,800 to €8,900 and “vaginoplasty”, to narrow the vagina, for €5,000.

Barbara Lefebvre, a teacher, told RMC radio: “He’d have us believe that he’s going to help people repair themselves, but what he’s really going to do is make money out of breast enlargements.”