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BESANCON (AFP)
A French doctor accused of intentionally poisoning 30 child and adult patients, 12 of whom died, went on trial Monday, saying before the hearing he was not responsible for the “distress” of his alleged victims and their families.
Frederic Pechier, 53, worked as an anesthetist at two clinics in the eastern city of Besancon when patients went into cardiac arrest in suspicious circumstances between 2008 to 2017. Twelve could not be resuscitated.
He is accused of triggering heart attacks in patients so he could show off his resuscitation skills and discredit co-workers.
Pechier's youngest alleged victim, a four-year-old identified as Teddy, survived two cardiac arrests during a routine tonsil operation in 2016. The doctor's oldest alleged victim was 89.
The trial caps an eight-year investigation that stunned the medical community. Pechier has denied the charges.
"It's necessary to lay all the cards on the table," Pechier told broadcaster RTL earlier Monday, adding that he had "strong arguments" in his defence.
Asked about the suffering of the families who will attend the trial, set to last until December, Pechier replied: “I understand it completely, but on the other hand, I am not responsible for their distress.”
Pechier, a father of three, faces life imprisonment if convicted. He is not currently in custody but under judicial supervision, an alternative to pre-trial detention.
Pechier has not practiced medicine since 2017, even though in 2023, he was authorised to work provided he does not come into contact with patients.
An investigation was opened in 2017 after suspicious cardiac arrests during operations on patients considered low-risk.
Pechier is suspected of tampering with his colleagues' paracetamol bags or anaesthesia pouches to create operating room emergencies where he could intervene to show off his resuscitating talents.
He has blamed "medical errors" by his colleagues for most of the poisonings.
Over the course of the investigation, investigators examined more than 70 reports of “serious adverse events,” referring to unexpected complications or deaths among patients.
The cases of 30 patients who suffered cardiac arrest during surgery at the Saint-Vincent Clinic and the Franche-Comte Polyclinic made it to trial.
More than 150 civil parties will be represented at the trial.
For the first two weeks, the court will examine Pechier's most recent cases, those that aroused the investigators' suspicions and led to the anaesthetist being placed under investigation in 2017.
Afterwards each of the poisonings attributed to the doctor will be examined.
