Berlin doctor charged with murder of 15 palliative care patients
He allegedly administered an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxer to the patients without their knowledge or consent
A doctor in Berlin has been charged with murder over the deaths of 15 patients under palliative care, prosecutors said on Wednesday. He is also accused of trying to cover up the evidence by starting fires in their homes.
The doctor was part of a nursing service’s end-of-life care team and was initially suspected of the deaths of just four patients. That number has crept higher since last summer, and investigators now say they’ve found evidence linking him to the deaths of 15 people between September 22, 2021, and July 24 last year.
The victims’ ages ranged from 25 to 94. Most died in their own homes.
He allegedly administered an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxer to the patients without their knowledge or consent. The drug cocktail then allegedly paralysed the respiratory muscles. Respiratory arrest and death followed within minutes, prosecutors said.
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The doctor – a 40-year-old man whose name has not been released, in line with German privacy rules – has been in custody since August 6. Prosecutors said Wednesday that he has not yet responded to the case against him.