Overview
- The actor and director Arnaud Denis died after an authorized euthanasia procedure in Namur, Belgium, on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, with friend Delphine Depardieu present and describing him as relieved.
- Denis blamed a polypropylene inguinal hernia implant placed on July 17, 2023 for years of severe, worsening illness that included diagnoses reported as encephalomyelitis myalgica and features described by supporters as ASIA.
- He had been admitted to a Belgian palliative care unit while three doctors reviewed his request before authorizing the euthanasia, and he published a farewell criticizing medical care and the implant maker.
- Denis filed a complaint with the Paris prosecutor alleging involuntary injuries from the implant but the criminal inquiry was archived at the end of August after investigators found insufficient evidence to press charges.
- His death has intensified calls from his lawyer and a patients’ collective he founded for clearer patient information on hernia meshes, closer regulator and manufacturer transparency, and scrutiny of cross‑border access to assisted dying.