Overview
- The Mende criminal court sentenced José Pereira Mendes on Thursday to six years in prison with immediate custody, a lifetime ban from dentistry, and expulsion from France.
- Judges found he performed non‑medically justified extractions and placed faulty implants that left patients with permanent harm.
- Social security investigators reported about €330,000 in undue reimbursements after uncovering 1,234 billing anomalies across 131 patient files.
- Authorities have identified 44 victims to date, and testimony described people unable to chew, living with visible facial changes, and suffering severe psychological distress.
- Pereira Mendes denied intent to defraud and blamed an assistant for billing, while civil compensation will proceed in a separate hearing with provisional payments ordered for several victims.