A French court on Thursday sentenced Frederic Pechier, a 53-year-old anaesthetist, to life imprisonment for poisoning 30 child and adult patients, 12 of whom died. The incidents occurred between 2008 and 2017 at two clinics in Besancon, eastern France. Pechier contaminated intravenous bags with substances like potassium, local anaesthetics, adrenaline, and an anticoagulant, triggering cardiac arrests or haemorrhaging during operations.
The presiding judge, Delphine Thibierge, ordered immediate incarceration and banned Pechier from practising medicine again. Prosecutors stated he aimed to psychologically harm colleagues amid conflicts and to satisfy a thirst for power.
Background and Motive Behind the Attacks
The French doctor poisoning patients scandal emerged after suspicious cardiac arrests in low-risk patients prompted an investigation in 2017. Pechier's youngest victim, a four-year-old child, survived two cardiac arrests during tonsil surgery in 2016. The oldest victim was 89 years old.
Prosecutors accused Pechier of using medicine to kill, describing his actions as deliberate sabotage. One colleague called him a skilled doctor with an "oversized ego". This verdict follows another medical scandal in France, where retired doctor Joel Le Scouarnec received a 20-year sentence in May for abusing 298 patients, mostly children, between 1989 and 2014. That case raised concerns about oversight in the medical field.
Pechier denied the charges, claiming the poisonings resulted from colleagues' medical errors or another perpetrator.
He stated during the trial, "I am not a poisoner."
Responses from Victims and Defence
Civil parties expressed relief at the outcome. Survivor Sandra Simard, who endured a cardiac arrest during back surgery at age 36, said, "It's the end of a nightmare," according to AFP. A high dose of potassium—100 times the normal amount—was found in her rehydration pouch. Jean-Claude Gandon, poisoned at 70 during a urology procedure, added, "Now we can have a quiet Christmas."
Pechier's lawyer, Ornella Spatafora, confirmed an appeal against the life sentence. No further response from Pechier or his team was detailed in the sources as of the verdict.
The more than three-month trial highlighted systemic issues in French healthcare, though next steps depend on the appeal process.
