evidence: The Real Reason France Is Skeptical of Vaccines [...] In the past few months, France’s relationship to vaccines has come under unexpected scrutiny. First, a flurry of surveys and opinion polls seemed to show that the French were deeply suspicious about the possibility of taking any of the new vaccines against COVID-19. International media reported with horror that the land of Louis Pasteur—who first explained the science of vaccination in the late 19th century—was apparently filled with people who did not trust their own state to administer a safe vaccine. [...] Much of the commentary about these problems in the English-language media has focused on the rising tide of anti-vaccine sentiment in France. There is some truth to this. Confidence in medical science has declined in recent years after a series of scandals. The most famous of these relates to the diabetes drug Mediator, which was marketed as a weight loss pill and has been linked to the deaths of as many as 2,000 people. French prosecutors accuse both the drug manufacturer Servier and the government agency in charge of drug approval of negligence and manslaughter. After a trial that lasted for almost seven months, a verdict in the case is expected on March 29.