The anaesthetist's youngest victim was just four years old.
11:25, Thu, Dec 18, 2025 Updated: 11:28, Thu, Dec 18, 2025
Frédéric Péchier's youngest patient was just four years old (Image: Getty)
A former anaesthetist has been sentenced to life in jail for intentionally using poison on 30 child and adult patients, 12 of whom died. A court in Besançon, eastern France, convicted Frédéric Péchier, 53, of tampering with infusion bags by introducing substances that led to cardiac arrest or severe bleeding.
He worked as an anaesthetist in two clinics in the eastern city of Besancon, when patients went into cardiac arrest in suspicious circumstances between 2008 to 2017. Calling him “doctor death”, prosecutors said last week Péchier has “brought shame on all doctors”. "You have turned this clinic into a graveyard”, added prosecutors.
The former anaesthetist poisoned 30 patients (Image: Getty)
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Once regarded by his peers as a highly skilled professional, prosecutors labelled him as “one of the greatest criminals in history,” accusing him of having “used medicine as a means to kill.”
A four year old child, his youngest victim, survived two cardiac arrests during a routine tonsil surgery in 2016. The oldest victim was 89.
Péchier first came under investigation eight years ago after a 36-year-old patient, Sandra Simard, who had no prior health issues, suffered cardiac arrest during spinal surgery.
He has not practiced medicine since 2017, though in 2023 he was allowed to work under the condition that he had no contact with patients.
He has always denied any wrongdoing. "I have said it before and I'll say it again: I am not a poisoner... I have always upheld the Hippocratic oath," he stated.
Péchier has always denied any wrongdoing (Image: Getty)
The sentence, which has a minimum term of 22 years, comes after more than 15 weeks of hearings.
Péchier was convicted of tampering with IV bags by adding substances such as potassium, local anesthetics, adrenaline, and heparin, causing cardiac arrest or severe bleeding in patients treated by other doctors.
Prosecutors said his actions were intended to psychologically damage colleagues he was in conflict with and to satisfy what they described as his desire for power.
The trial featured emotional testimony's from victims and tense confrontations with Péchier, who was portrayed as an unfeeling serial killer and a “broken man.”
Péchier now has 10 days to lodge an appeal, which would entail a second trial within a year.
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