BESANÇON (France) Sept 8 — A French doctor went on trial today accused of intentionally poisoning 30 patients, 12 of whom died, in an alleged attempt to show off his resuscitation skills and discredit colleagues.

Frédéric Pechier, 53, was working as an anaesthetist at two clinics in Besançon when patients went into cardiac arrest under suspicious circumstances between 2008 and 2017. Twelve did not survive.

Among the alleged victims was a four-year-old child who suffered two cardiac arrests during a routine tonsil operation in 2016 but survived, and an 89-year-old patient who died.

The trial, which will run in Besançon until December, follows a seven-year investigation that shocked the French medical community.

Pechier, a father of three who has been banned from practising medicine, faces life imprisonment if convicted. He has denied all charges and is currently under judicial supervision rather than in pre-trial detention.

“I’ve been waiting for this for 17 years,” said Amandine Iehlen, whose father died of cardiac arrest during kidney surgery in 2008. An autopsy revealed an overdose of lidocaine, a local anaesthetic.

Prosecutor Étienne Manteaux described the case as “unprecedented in French legal history”.

Investigators suspect Pechier of tampering with colleagues’ paracetamol bags or anaesthesia pouches to trigger operating room emergencies, where he would intervene to display his supposed life-saving skills.

“What he is accused of is poisoning healthy patients in order to harm colleagues with whom he was in conflict,” Manteaux said. “Frédéric Pechier was the first responder when cardiac arrest occurred. He always had a solution.”

Some colleagues described him as a “star anaesthetist”, while others called him arrogant and manipulative, claiming he liked to think of himself as “Zorro”.

Over 70 cases of unexpected complications or deaths were reviewed during the investigation, with 30 making it to trial. Pechier was first detained and charged in 2017 after a 36-year-old woman suffered cardiac arrest during surgery.

The trial involves more than 150 civil parties, including a trade union for anaesthetists, and 55 lawyers representing victims.

“This is a dizzying case owing to its scale, duration and technical complexity,” said Frédéric Berna, one of the lawyers, adding that he doubted the court would hear “sincere and honest explanations” from Pechier.

A psychological evaluation in 2019 pointed to a “controlling personality” with “perverse traits”, though his defence rejected those findings.

Ahead of the trial, Pechier insisted he intended to prove his innocence.

“I have to fight one last time to bring this to an end,” he told broadcaster BFMTV. “I’m not tired. I’m not angry. I just want people to listen for once.” — AFP