German doctor charged with murdering 15 patients

A German palliative care doctor has been charged with murdering 15 of his patients using a cocktail of lethal drugs, the BBC writes.

He is accused of administering an anesthetic and a muscle relaxant to his patients without their knowledge or consent.

“The relaxant paralyzed the respiratory muscles, leading to respiratory arrest and death within minutes”, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Prosecutors in Berlin have accused the 40-year-old of setting fire to the homes of some of his suspected victims to cover his tracks.

He allegedly killed 12 women and three men between September 2021 and July 2024, though prosecutors have said they believe that total could rise. He worked in several German states, and the ages of those whose deaths are being treated as suspicious range from 25 to 94.

The doctor, who has not been named due to strict privacy laws in Germany, has not admitted to the charges, prosecutors said.