Anesthesiologist Frédéric Péchier is being sent to court on charges of poisoning patients.
This Monday, August 5, former anesthesiologist Frédéric Péchier was sent before the Doubs Assize Court. The investigating judges signed a 369-page document before the Assize Court summarizing the charges against him after seven years of investigation, according to AFP. He is accused of poisoning 30 patients during surgical operations, 12 of which led to death. The alleged facts allegedly took place between 2008 and 2017.
His modus operandi was allegedly to contaminate the IV bags of these patients in two private clinics in Besançon, with the aim of causing them to go into cardiac arrest before attempting resuscitation to put himself forward and discredit some of his colleagues with whom he strongly disagreed. The patients were therefore not the accused’s targets. Most of them were patients who were in relatively good health and who came for non-serious procedures.
Frédéric Péchier has continued to proclaim his innocence. During a hearing, he even accused his former colleagues of “medical errors” to explain the cardiac arrests observed. While the defense has ten days to contest this referral, the accused’s lawyer announced that, along with his client, they will not appeal this decision to order indictment.
A highly anticipated trial
His trial before the Doubs Assize Court is not expected to take place until 2025. It could last a long time according to Frédéric Péchier’s lawyer, Randall Schwerdorffer. He has, in fact, declared to France 3 : “I will plead for acquittal. I know the prosecutor’s position, it is very firm, he will request the conviction of Frédéric Péchier. And that will be the subject of these two or three months of hearings.” However, such a deadline is eagerly awaited by the victims’ families since Frédéric Péchier’s first police custody dates back to 2017.
What does the former anesthesiologist risk at the end of this trial? According to theand public prosecutor of Besançon, Etienne Manteaux told AFP that he faces life imprisonment for the alleged facts.