French anaesthetist goes on trial accused of poisoning 30 patients, 12 fatally

A former anaesthetist has gone on trial in Besançon, eastern France, accused of deliberately poisoning 30 people, including 12 who died, prosecutors said. The hearing, scheduled to run for more than three months, involves more than 150 civil parties representing alleged victims and their families.

Prosecutors say 53-year-old Frédéric Péchier tampered with intravenous medicines to provoke cardiac arrests as a means of taking revenge on colleagues. Péchier, who worked at the Franche-Comté Polyclinic and the Saint-Vincent Clinic, has denied the accusations and remains at liberty under judicial supervision while the trial continues. If convicted he faces life imprisonment.

The case first drew public attention in January 2017 after the surgery of a 36-year-old woman, Sandra Simard, whose heart stopped beating following a spinal operation. Court documents and local prosecutors say an intensive care physician was initially unable to revive her. Péchier later gave an injection and the patient fell into a coma and survived. Tests on intravenous drugs used to treat her showed concentrations of potassium about 100 times the expected dose, prompting prosecutors to open an inquiry.

Within days, authorities said, another serious adverse event occurred involving a 70-year-old man. Péchier reported finding three bags of paracetamol that he said had been tampered with after he had administered a general anaesthetic. Péchier said at the time he was being framed; he was placed under formal investigation a few weeks later.

Investigators then examined a series of serious adverse events dating back to 2008, involving patients aged 4 to 89 at the two Besançon health centres where Péchier practised. In 2009, three patients with no history of heart disease required resuscitation during minor operations at the Franche-Comté Polyclinic, records show. Twelve suspicious cases were identified in which patients could not be resuscitated or died in unexplained circumstances.

One of the earliest alleged victims was Damien Iehlen, 53, who died in October 2008 after a routine kidney operation at the Saint-Vincent Clinic. Tests later indicated he had been given a potentially lethal dose of lidocaine, according to prosecutors. "It's appalling. You cannot imagine the effect it's had on my family," his daughter Amandine told French media. "It's unthinkable this could happen and that so many people were affected for so many years, from 2008 to 2017."

Péchier, from a family of health professionals whose father was also an anaesthetist, has said he will use the trial to clear his name. One of his lawyers said the defence had waited eight years for the chance to present a full account. Péchier told RTL radio the proceedings offered "a chance to lay out all the cards on the table," and said there was "no proof of any poisoning." He also told the broadcaster that serious adverse events and cardiac arrests continued at the clinics after his departure in March 2017, citing nine additional cases reported afterward.

Prosecutors have argued that Péchier was the "common denominator" in the suspicious cases and that the pattern of tampered intravenous medications and unexplained cardiac arrests supports their theory of deliberate poisoning. The trial is expected to examine technical analyses of drug samples, patient records and testimony from hospital staff and relatives of the victims.

The proceedings in Besançon are set to continue through December. Civil parties include dozens of families seeking answers and redress for sudden or unexplained losses, while the public health implications of alleged tampering in hospital settings underline long-standing concerns about the security and traceability of injectable medicines.