August M
A long-running criminal case in eastern France has ended with one of the country’s most shocking medical verdicts. What began as unexplained complications during routine procedures ultimately exposed a pattern of deliberate harm.
The ruling brings to a close years of investigation into incidents that stunned both the medical community and the public.
A court in Besançon has sentenced former anaesthetist Frédéric Péchier to life in prison for intentionally poisoning patients under his care. According to the BBC, judges found him guilty of contaminating infusion bags, causing cardiac arrest or severe bleeding.
In total, the court concluded that 30 patients were poisoned. Twelve of them died.
Victims identified
The youngest victim was a four-year-old child who suffered two cardiac arrests during routine tonsil surgery in 2016 but survived. The oldest patient affected was 89.
One of the first known cases involved Sandra Simard, who was 36 when she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during spinal surgery. She survived only after emergency intervention, including efforts by Péchier himself, but later fell into a coma.
Tests on Simard’s infusion bags revealed potassium levels around 100 times higher than expected, prompting prosecutors to open an investigation, reports the BBC.
Investigation unfolds
Péchier was first placed under formal investigation eight years ago. Authorities suspected him of poisoning patients at two clinics in Besançon between 2008 and 2017.
During the trial, prosecutors accused him of deliberately contaminating medical equipment used on patients undergoing routine procedures, turning hospital wards into scenes of repeated medical emergencies.
“You are Doctor Death, a poisoner, a murderer. You bring shame on all doctors,” prosecutors told the court last week. “You have turned this clinic into a graveyard,” notes the BBC.
Denials in court
The trial lasted 15 weeks. Throughout the proceedings, Péchier sometimes accepted that poisoning may have occurred but denied being responsible.
“I have said it before and I’ll say it again: I am not a poisoner… I have always upheld the Hippocratic oath,” he told the court.
Despite the verdict, Péchier had remained free during the trial.
Sentence and appeal
Under the ruling, Péchier must serve a minimum of 22 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole. He has 10 days to file an appeal, which would trigger a second trial within a year.
The case has raised serious questions in France about hospital oversight, patient safety, and how repeated medical emergencies went undetected for years, reports the BBC.
Sources: BBC
