Frederic Pechier: Doctor charged with killing nine patients by ‘poisoning them during surgery’

Anaesthetist compared to a 'pyromaniac fireman' by prosecutors

Frederic Pechier speaks outside court in Besancon, France, after being charged with 17 further poisonings (AFP/Getty)

A French doctor poisoned up to two dozen patients during surgery so he could show off his skills by saving their lives, according to prosecutors.

Anaesthetist Frederic Pechier, 47, is suspected of injecting lethal doses of potassium chloride to trigger cardiac arrests on the operating table.

He has been charged over 24 suspicious incidents involving the deaths of nine people at a private clinic in the eastern city of Besancon.

“Pechier appears as the common denominator for these unfortunate and serious events that seem related to an acute conflict with other anaesthetists or surgeons at the Saint-Vincent clinic,” said prosecutor Etienne Manteaux.

The anaesthetist is believed to have tampered with the perfusion bags that deliver drugs and fluids to patients during benign surgeries.

His alleged victims were aged between four and 80 at the time of the incidents, which date back to 2008.

Dr Pechier’s colleagues are said to have become suspicious at how quickly he was able to diagnose the anaesthetic overdoses.

He was first placed under criminal investigation in May 2017 over seven poisonings. He was released but was brought in for questioning over a further 66 suspicious incidents earlier this week. Investigating magistrates found there was evidence to link him to 17 of those cases, bringing the total to 24.

Prosecutors claim he deliberately created the operating theatre emergencies to show off. They compared him to a “pyromaniac fireman”.

Dr Pechier, who has been suspended from practising, denies the charges but told reporters that his career was “over” whatever the outcome of the case.

“You cannot trust a doctor who, at one point, has been labelled a poisoner,” he said. “My family is broken and I am afraid for my children.”

He faces a life sentence if convicted of the allegations.

Additional reporting by Reuters