December 18, 2025, 1:49 p.mDecember 18, 2025, 1:49 p.m
A French anesthetist has been sentenced to life in prison for allegedly poisoning patients and killing twelve of them.
In 23 of the cases, the doctor is said to have tried to resuscitate the patients. (symbol image)Image: keystone
This was decided by a jury in Besançon, eastern France, as the French news agency AFP and French media reported unanimously. The 53-year-old former doctor had always rejected the allegations. He wants to appeal the verdict, as AFP wrote with reference to his defense attorney’s office.
The man is accused of intentionally administering high doses of toxins to patients between the ages of 4 and 89 at two private clinics between 2008 and 2017, thereby causing cardiac arrest and bleeding. Twelve of the patients died. In 23 cases the man is said to have tried to resuscitate the patients.
Prosecutor spoke of “Doctor Death”
With the verdict, the court complies with the public prosecutor’s request. “You are “Doctor Death”, you are a murderer, you have turned this clinic into a cemetery, you insult all doctors,” said prosecutor Christine de Curraize at the end of the plea.
The defense, however, had insisted on an acquittal because there was a lack of clear evidence. The doctor himself said in his last words in court: “I say it and will always say it: I have never poisoned anyone,” as the newspaper “L’Est Républicain” reported from the courtroom. (sda/dpa)
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