A former anesthetist from Besançon is on trial, an “unprecedented” case in France’s judicial annals.
The defendant allegedly poisoned 30 patients, 12 of whom died during surgeries, the prosecutor’s office said.
After a seven-year investigation, two investigators signed the order to indict Fréneric Pessier, 52, at the Criminal Court of Dube, said Public Prosecutor Etienne Mandeau. Pessier, who has pleaded not guilty, faces up to life in prison.
The case came to light when an anesthesiologist at one of the city’s clinics informed the authorities about three “unexplained” cardiac arrests of patients during surgeries. It is believed that between October 10, 2008 and January 20, 2017, Pessier contaminated the sera of patients at two private clinics in Besançon to cause them to go into cardiac arrest and revive them, thus demonstrating his abilities. At the same time, he wanted to tarnish the reputation of his colleagues with whom he had come into conflict.
In most cases, experts said there was “strong evidence” and in some “certainty” that high, even fatal, doses were given to patients who went in for surgery at the two clinics. Often, the operations they underwent were not serious.
The case is “unprecedented” and “we are not talking about a case of euthanasia”, emphasized Etienne Mandeau. “It is something unique” because “the goal was not to relieve suffering patients. We’re talking about people who, in most cases, were in good shape and would undergo minor operations” and therefore “their lives were not in danger,” he added.
Another dimension is that the defendant’s target was not the patients themselves, but the doctors with whom Pessier had a dispute, the prosecutor explained.
“He stepped in when there was a standoff” and “always found the solution,” his former colleagues said. He “believed he was the best” and “had created the image of the savior.” In cases where patients died, he was in open conflict with his colleagues who were losing the patient.
During the years-long investigation, Pessier was banned from working as an anesthetist and ordered to leave Besançon.
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