Diabetic wife accused of murdering mocking husband with insulin injection

A diabetic French woman has been charged with attempting to murder her husband after she reportedly injected him with insulin to teach him a lesson.

The 59-year-old woman from Côtes-d’Armor in Brittany was arrested after a disagreement turned deadly earlier this year.

Ouest-France reports that police were called to the home early in the morning of July 28 after the man, who was not diabetic, was found unresponsive.

Public prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said the woman admitted to administering insulin to her husband the previous day.

She claimed he told her that type 1 diabetes was a “benign” illness and she injected him to “show him what it feels like” to be hypoglycaemic, adding that he had not objected to the injection and they had not argued about the issue.

But when she woke she could not raise him and called emergency services.

He eventually died on August 10.

Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune condition that means that sufferers do not produce their own insulin and therefore cannot regulate their blood glucose. There is no cure, but it can be managed by treatments aimed at maintaining normal blood sugar levels through regular monitoring, insulin therapy, diet and exercise.

If their glucose levels get too high (hyperglycaemia), they can suffer blurred vision and weakness among other symptoms. If left untreated, it can lead to organ failure.

If they get too low (hypoglycaemia), they can become sleepy, confused, and eventually slip into a coma in their sleep.

If a non-diabetic person is given insulin, they run the risk of dramatically lowering their blood glucose and becoming dangerously hypoglycaemic.

Ouest-France reports the woman, who already has domestic violence convictions, has been indicted on a charge of attempted murder and placed in pre-trial detention as investigations continue.

She is likely to face further charges.