A French doctor who goes on trial Monday accused of intentionally poisoning 30 patients, 12 of whom died, sounded defiant in a radio interview before the hearings opened, saying he was not responsible for the "distress" of his alleged victims and their families.

Frederic Pechier, 53, worked as an anaesthetist at two clinics in the eastern city of Besancon when patients went into cardiac arrest in suspicious circumstances between 2008 to 2017. Twelve could not be resuscitated.

Pechier is accused of triggering heart attacks in child and adult patients in an alleged attempt to show off his resuscitation skills and discredit co-workers.

Pechier's youngest alleged victim, a four-year-old identified as Teddy, survived two cardiac arrests during a routine tonsil surgery in 2016. The doctor's o

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