• Intentionally poisoned 30 patients, 12 of whom died

• Contaminated infusion bags causing serious complications

A court in eastern France sentenced former anesthetist Frédéric Péchier to life in prison after proving he intentionally poisoned 30 patients, including 12 fatalities.

The court said Péchier contaminated infusion bags with substances that led to cardiac arrest or internal bleeding.

His youngest victim, a four-year-old child, survived two cardiac arrests during a tonsil surgery in 2016, while his oldest victim was 89.

Prosecutors last week condemned him sharply, saying: "You are Doctor Death, a poisoner, a murderer. You have brought shame on all doctors and turned this clinic into a graveyard."

Péchier had been under investigation for eight years after suspicions of poisoning patients at two clinics between 2008 and 2017.

His first known victim was Sandra Simard, 36, who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during spine surgery. She survived due to Péchier’s intervention but fell into a coma.

Tests on her infusion bags revealed potassium levels 100 times higher than expected, prompting local prosecutors to act.

During the 15-week trial, Péchier occasionally admitted some patients who became ill or died might have been poisoned, but denied wrongdoing, asserting: "I have said it before and I’ll say it again: I am not a poisoner… I have always upheld the Hippocratic oath."

He will now serve a minimum of 22 years in prison, with the right to appeal within 10 days, which would trigger a second trial within a year.