Doctor under investigation for allegedly killing 12 patients in France begins court proceedings
In the heart of Besançon, France, a landmark trial is underway, one that has captivated the nation and is being hailed as "unprecedented in French legal history." The defendant, Frederic Pechier, a former anaesthetist at two private clinics, faces a multitude of charges, the most severe of which carries a life imprisonment sentence.
Pechier's career, once marked by respect and trust, has taken a dramatic turn following a seven-year investigation. The investigation was initiated in January 2017, after 36-year-old Sandra Simard suffered a suspicious cardiac arrest during an operation at the Saint-Vincent clinic. Over 70 reports of "serious adverse events" were examined during this period, leading to the cases of 30 patients who suffered cardiac arrest during surgery at the Saint-Vincent Clinic and the Franche-Comte Polyclinic making it to trial.
Prosecutors allege that Pechier contaminated infusion pouches used by his colleagues to create operating room emergencies where he could intervene to show off his supposed resuscitating talents. Potentially lethal doses of potassium were discovered in a saline bag used for Simard's anaesthesia, leading suspicion to fall on Pechier.
The youngest alleged victim of Pechier's suspicious practices was a four-year-old named Teddy, who survived two cardiac arrests during a routine tonsil surgery in 2016. The oldest alleged victim was 89 years old.
Before Pechier's brief stint at the Polyclinique de Franche-Comté in 2009, there had been no such incidents reported there. After he left, they ceased. Similarly, Saint-Vincent clinic has had no such events since his arrest.
Pechier, 53, is currently under judicial supervision. He has been linked to the clinics through a meticulous police investigation that probed 1,514 people who could have had access to the operating theatres at both clinics. Pechier was the only one whose name appeared at both locations.
Despite the gravity of the charges, Pechier has maintained his innocence, stating that he is "not particularly anxious" and wants people to listen for once. Ahead of the trial, he expressed a desire for the truth to be uncovered.
More than 150 civil parties, including a trade union for anaesthetists, will be represented at the trial. The investigation into Pechier's alleged crimes required four exhumations of bodies, a rare judicial decision. The trial against Pechier is expected to last until December.
As the trial unfolds, the nation watches with bated breath, the case's "scale, duration and technical complexity" making it a "dizzying case" indeed.
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