[Responsibility of poison control center physicians]

Rennes's Poison Control Centers as a public medical department associated with an emergency care unit for poisoned patients, is also endowed with a role in toxicological information. In this regard, doctors are working as health officers in the respect of professional ethics. Administrative courts will therefore have to consider suits opposed to poison control doctors. The contract linking the doctor to his counterpart is a benevolence contract. The validity of his oral advice was defined by the Cour de Cassation. The potential evaluation of a fault will be modulated by the particular circumstances of data collection and hence its uncertainty. However, Poison Control Centers must be best organized so that their answers to queries are given by a toxicology-qualified staff. The doctor will also have to provide assistance to those people in danger by adequate help. Despite the ambiguity of some calls which he has to face, the doctor in a Poison Control Center does not seem to be involved by the Law on suicide.