A French court has sentenced former anesthetist Frédéric Péchier to life in prison for poisoning 30 patients—12 of them fatally—over nearly a decade at clinics in the eastern city of Besançon. The 53‑year‑old was convicted after a four‑month trial that prosecutors described as one of the most significant medical crime cases in the country’s history.
Prosecutors said Péchier secretly injected chemicals such as potassium chloride and adrenaline into patients’ infusion bags, triggering sudden cardiac arrests or severe hemorrhaging during routine surgeries. He often stepped in to “save” the patients he had allegedly endangered, reinforcing what investigators called a self‑crafted image as a brilliant, indispensable clinician.
Authorities argued that Péchier acted to undermine colleagues with whom he had professional conflicts. In most cases, he was not the primary anesthetist and was accused of arriving early to tamper with equipment before operations began.
The pattern of unexplained emergencies first drew attention in 2017, when an abnormally high concentration of potassium chloride was discovered in the infusion bag of a woman who suffered a cardiac arrest during back surgery. Investigators later identified a cluster of “serious adverse events” at the Saint‑Vincent clinic, where the rate of fatal cardiac arrests under anesthesia was more than six times the national average.
According to investigators, the incidents stopped when Péchier briefly left the clinic for another facility—where emergencies then increased—and ceased entirely once he was barred from practicing in 2017. Tests from earlier cases, including that of 36‑year‑old Sandra Simard, revealed potassium levels up to 100 times higher than expected.
Throughout the 15‑week trial, Péchier denied wrongdoing, insisting he had “always upheld the Hippocratic oath.” His testimony shifted at times, and he eventually acknowledged that a poisoner may have been active in the clinic but maintained it was not him. His lawyers argued that no direct physical evidence tied him to the tampering.
A court‑appointed psychologist described Péchier as having a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” personality, noting a respectable professional façade alongside a capacity for severe harm. Péchier, the son of two medical professionals and a divorced father of three, had previously attempted suicide in 2014 and 2021.
Victims and survivors welcomed the verdict. “It’s the end of a nightmare,” Simard said outside the courtroom. Another survivor, Jean‑Claude Gandon, said the ruling would allow families to “have an easier Christmas now.”
Péchier must serve at least 22 years before becoming eligible for parole. He has 10 days to appeal, which would trigger a second trial within a year.
