A French court jailed a former anaesthetist for life on Thursday after convicting him of poisoning 30 patients in operating theatres, causing 12 deaths, in a case that has shocked the medical community.
Frédéric Péchier, 53, was found guilty of contaminating IV bags to trigger cardiac arrests or haemorrhages in patients treated by colleagues in two clinics in the eastern city of Besançon between 2008 and 2017.
The court heard that Péchier tainted IV bags with potassium, local anaesthetics, adrenaline and an anticoagulant. His youngest victim, 4-year-old Teddy, survived two cardiac arrests during a routine tonsil operation in 2016. The oldest victim was 89.
“You will be incarcerated immediately,” presiding judge Delphine Thibierge said as the verdict was delivered.
Péchier, who has denied wrongdoing since the investigation began in 2017 and had not been held in custody, appeared unmoved.
Members of his family broke down in tears. His lawyer Ornella Spatafora said he would appeal.
French doctor accused of fatally poisoning 12 patients goes on trial
'Thirst for power'
The case began after a series of unexplained cardiac arrests during routine operations on patients considered low risk. Investigators opened a formal inquiry in 2017. Twelve of the patients could not be resuscitated.
During a trial lasting more than three months, prosecutors asked for a life sentence, telling the court Péchier had “used medicine to kill”. They said his actions were aimed at harming colleagues with whom he was in conflict.
“His goal was to ‘psychologically hurt’ caregivers and to ‘feed his thirst for power,’” prosecutors said.
Christine de Curraize, one of the state prosecutors, addressed the defendant directly in court. “You are not worthy of the title of doctor. You are the doctor of death,” she said.
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Denial and defence
Péchier maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings. He argued that most of the poisonings were the result of “medical errors” made by colleagues.
He admitted there had been someone poisoning patients in one of the clinics where he worked, but insisted it was not him. “I am not a poisoner,” he said.
One colleague described Péchier as a very good doctor with an “oversized ego”, the court heard. Earlier this month, Péchier told the court in tears that he had attempted suicide in 2021.
Péchier was taken into custody immediately after the verdict. Through his lawyer, he can ask the court to allow his release under strict conditions, FranceInfo reported.
Randall Schwerdorffer, another lawyer for Péchier, said he would assemble a “seriously reinforced defence” for the appeal.
“I will not be able to do it again on my own,” he told local media, adding that he would work with “a high-level lawyer”.
The verdict comes months after another high-profile case involving a doctor. In May, a court sentenced retired doctor Joel Le Scouarnec to 20 years in prison after he confessed to sexually abusing or raping 298 patients between 1989 and 2014, most of them children.
That case raised questions about how warnings from colleagues failed to prevent him from practising until retirement.
