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French Doctor Accused of Poisoning Patients to Show Off His Resuscitation Skills
Frédéric Péchier, a doctor in France, has been accused of poisoning his patients so they would go into cardiac arrest and he could show off his resuscitation skills, according to multiple reports.
Péchier, 53, has been accused of poisoning 30 child and adult patients when he worked as an anaesthetist at Besançon clinics Saint-Vincent Clinic and the Franche-Comté Polyclinic from 2008 and 2017, according to France 24. Twelve of the patients he allegedly poisoned died.
His trial began at the Doubs Assize Court in Besançon, France, on Monday, September 8, according to French outlets France 24, RTL and Le Monde. The trial is expected to last until December, and Péchier faces a life sentence if he’s convicted.
The patients that he allegedly poisoned range from the ages of 4 to 89, according to Le Monde. The outlet also reported that Péchier has insisted he isn’t guilty of the crimes.
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Péchier has been accused of triggering heart attacks in patients so he could show off his resuscitation skills, while he also allegedly discredited his co-workers’ medical expertise. France 24 reported that it’s suspected Péchier tampered with his colleagues’ paracetamol bags or anesthesia pouches so that he could create operating room emergencies and save the day by resuscitating his patients.
The investigation into Péchier’s practices began when his patient Sandra Simard suffered a cardiac arrest while undergoing an operation on her spine in January 2017, per Le Monde. While she survived the procedure, a potentially lethal dose of potassium was found in a bag of saline that was used for her anesthesia.
BBC reported that Simard was mostly healthy at the time of her procedure, though her heart stopped beating when she was put under anaesthesia. After an intensive care physician failed to revive her, Péchier gave her an injection that ultimately saved her.
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“What he is accused of is poisoning healthy patients in order to harm colleagues with whom he was in conflict,” Prosecutor Etienne Manteaux said of Péchier, per France 24. “Frédéric Pechier was the first responder when cardiac arrest occurred. He always had a solution.”
According to France 24, Péchier reportedly blamed “medical errors” by his colleagues for the majority of the alleged poisonings.
Ahead of the trial, Péchier told RTL he was “apprehensive” but believed he had “strong arguments and I’m not going into it reluctantly.”
When asked about the suffering of his victim’s families who will attend the trial, he said, “I understand it completely, but on the other hand, I am not responsible for their distress,” per France 24.
Péchier has not practiced medicine since 2017. He hasn’t been imprisoned throughout the investigation, though he’s been under judicial supervision and he was authorized to work in 2023 as long as he didn’t come into contact with the patients he allegedly poisoned, according to France 24.
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