The Kaiser Papers A Patient Advocacy Web SiteIn Copyright Since September 11, 2000
This web site is in no manner affiliated with any Kaiser entity and the for profit Permanente
Permission is granted to mirror this web site -
Please acknowledge where the material was obtained.
Link for Translation of the Kaiser Papers 
PATHFINDER(search)  |   ABOUT US  |  CONTACT  MCRC

Custom Search

medicalserialkillers.kaiserpapers.org


Originally Posted at:http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/01/international/europe/01NURS.html?pagewanted=print&position=top

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 1, 2003
French Nurse Jailed in 6 Deaths
By REUTERS
 

VERSAILLES, France, Jan. 31 (Reuters) — A French nurse who said she helped the terminally ill die out of compassion was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for the deaths of six hospital patients.

The nurse, Christine Malèvre, had been charged with the murder of seven patients at a lung hospital in Mantes-la-Jolie near Paris in 1997 and 1998. She faced life in prison.

Ms. Malèvre's case sparked energetic debate on euthanasia in France, a predominantly Roman Catholic country, after she initially said she had helped about 30 terminally ill patients end their lives.

Later, however, she said she had helped only two patients die at their requests. Ms. Malèvre, 33, spoke of accidents involving two others, and she denied responsibility for the death of three patients.

"These cases shatter the legend of Christine Malèvre as an angel of mercy bringing relief to patients at the end of their life," the counsel for the prosecution, Alain Junillon said, rejecting her insistence that she acted out of compassion.

Families of her victims also denied their relatives had asked to die.

Ms. Malèvre, who has written a book about the incidents titled "My Confessions," was sentenced after a four-hour deliberation. On top of the prison sentence, she was permanently banned from working as a nurse.

"Christine Malèvre is neither the Madonna of euthanasia nor a serial killer. She is just a nurse who let her compassion rule her," her lawyer, Charles Libman, said after the verdict.

Unlike the Netherlands and Belgium, France does not allow euthanasia. However, a number of French doctors come forward told the court they had helped patients with incurable diseases die.

 
 

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company


 
 
To Kaiser Papers
To caregivers that kill