French star physician to face court for 12 deaths following a seven-year investigation
French doctor Frédéric Péchier is set to face trial on September 8, following a seven-year investigation into allegations that he intentionally poisoned 30 child and adult patients at two clinics in Besançon, France. The trial is expected to last until December, and if convicted, Péchier faces life imprisonment.
The investigation was launched in January 2017, after a 36-year-old woman suffered a suspicious cardiac arrest during an operation at the Saint-Vincent Clinic. Over the course of the probe, investigators examined more than 70 reports of 'serious adverse events.' The cases of 30 patients who suffered cardiac arrest during surgery at the Saint-Vincent Clinic and the Franche-Comté Polyclinic have made it to trial.
Péchier, who worked as an anaesthetist at both clinics, is accused of tampering with paracetamol bags or anaesthesia pouches to create operating room emergencies. An autopsy on one of his alleged victims revealed an overdose of lidocaine, a local anaesthetic. The youngest alleged victim was a four-year-old child, and the oldest was 89 years old.
A criminal psychology evaluation of Péchier, carried out in 2019, pointed to an alleged 'controlling personality' and 'perverse traits.' However, other psychological and psychiatric assessments have not identified any particular pathology or personality disorder, describing Péchier as an intelligent man.
Péchier has stated ahead of the trial that he is 'not particularly anxious.' His defence team has stated that he has every intention of proving his innocence in this case. The name of the judge presiding over the trial has not been mentioned in the available search results.
More than 150 civil parties, including a trade union for anaesthetists, will be represented at the trial. The trial comes after Péchier attempted suicide in 2014 and fell from a window at his parents' house in a drunken state in 2021. Péchier has stated that he suffers from depression.
The trial promises to be a significant event in French medical history, as it will shed light on the actions of a doctor who is accused of intentionally harming his patients. The outcome of the trial will have far-reaching implications for the medical community in France and beyond.
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