A court in Besançon has sentenced former anaesthetist Frédéric Péchier to life in prison after finding him guilty of poisoning 30 patients, 12 of whom died, during a nine-year period at two private clinics in eastern France.
Judges concluded that Péchier had deliberately contaminated infusion bags with substances capable of inducing cardiac arrest or haemorrhaging, creating sudden medical emergencies during routine procedures. Prosecutors argued that Péchier used the crises to position himself as an essential and skilled responder, describing the conduct as a “cold and calculated manipulation” of vulnerable patients.
Suspicion first arose in 2017 when a cluster of unexplained cardiac arrests was linked to operations at clinics where Péchier was working. Investigators later identified dozens of incidents dating back to 2008 that showed similar patterns, including consistent timing, comparable symptoms and the presence of substances not typically used in anaesthesia.
During the trial, prosecutors told the court: “You are Doctor Death, a poisoner, a murderer. You bring shame on all doctors.” They accused him of turning the clinic into “a graveyard”. Péchier denied all wrongdoing and said the case relied on conjecture and flawed medical interpretation.
The defence argued that other staff had access to the infusion bags and that Péchier had been made a scapegoat for systemic failings within the clinics. The court rejected that argument, concluding that the evidence pointed overwhelmingly to deliberate tampering.
Péchier has ten days to appeal the decision.