Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Besançon Anesthetist Gets Life for Poisoning 30 Patients, 12 Fatalities

Prosecutors portrayed a scheme of tampered infusion bags meant to induce cardiac arrests to humiliate colleagues.

Overview

  • A French court convicted Frédéric Péchier of deliberately contaminating anesthesia and perfusion products across two Besançon clinics between 2008 and 2017.
  • He was taken into custody immediately after the verdict, faces a practical minimum of 22 years before parole eligibility, and is barred from practicing medicine.
  • Investigators cited potassium, adrenaline, heparin and local anesthetics as the agents used to provoke sudden cardiac arrests or hemorrhages.
  • Victims ranged from 4 to 89 years old, and twelve patients could not be resuscitated during what were often routine operations.
  • The three-and-a-half-month trial heard more than 150 witnesses, the court labeled him among the country’s worst criminal offenders, and his lawyer announced an appeal while maintaining his innocence.