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Péchier Trial Focuses on 2016 Cardiac Arrest of Four-Year-Old Patient

Expert hypotheses of drug intoxication are now central to the court’s review of the pediatric collapse.

Overview

  • The Doubs assize court examined how Tedy, then 4, went into cardiac arrest within minutes of entering the operating room for a tonsil procedure in February 2016 and later survived after a coma and intensive care.
  • Investigators detailed that the arrest was logged at 13:40, Dr. Frédéric Péchier arrived a minute later to assist resuscitation, and the episode deeply unsettled clinicians who called such a pediatric event exceptionally rare.
  • Court-appointed experts raised possible intoxication by lidocaine and potassium, while Péchier denied any role and suggested the boy’s reaction could be linked to anesthetic patches.
  • Prosecutors referenced another 2016 case, the death of Laurence Nicod after a recovery-room arrest, with an autopsy indicating mepivacaine and tramadol, and investigators floated a possible targeting linked to tensions involving anesthetist Sylvain Serri.
  • The defense rejected any motive tied to workplace disputes as aberrant, as Péchier stands tried free on charges of 30 poisonings, including 12 deaths, with a verdict scheduled for December 19.