Doctor charged in 25 deaths sues hospital for defamation
Source: AP
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) An Ohio doctor accused of ordering drug overdoses in the deaths of 25 hospital patients has sued his former employer for defamation, arguing that he did nothing wrong and did not deviate from hospital policy on end-of-life care.
Dr. William Husel, who is accused of murder, filed the lawsuit Thursday in Franklin County against the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System and its parent organization, Trinity Health Corp.
It would not be an exaggeration to state that Dr. Husel has suffered perhaps the most egregious case of defamation in Ohios recent history, according to the lawsuit.
Patients died from their illnesses, not the administration of fentanyl, a powerful painkiller ordered by Husel, he said in the lawsuit.
FILE - In this June 5, 2019 file photo former critical care doctor William Husel, center, pleads not guilty to murder charges while appearing with defense attorney Richard Blake, right, in Franklin County Court in Columbus, Ohio. Nusel, facing 25 counts of murder for his role in the deaths of hospital patients said in a defamation lawsuit filed against the hospital system he worked for that he did nothing wrong and did not deviate from hospital policy in providing end-of-life care. Husel filed the lawsuit Thursday, Dec. 26 in Franklin County, which includes Ohio's capital city of Columbus.(AP Photo/Kantele Franko, File)
Read more: https://apnews.com/2153b49a3abfd5cf60184d1807d23c1b
marble falls
(57,204 posts)magicarpet
(14,167 posts)Looking for his victim # 26.
Go get him doc !
TexasBushwhacker
(20,214 posts)But when my mother's breast cancer spread to her bones, fentanyl was a blessing.
Demonaut
(8,926 posts)suffer if they know the end is inevitably terribly painful
LisaL
(44,974 posts)By hospital's own admission, five of the patients could have improved. Some of the patients were relatively young. So they were not all old or dying necessarily.
Demonaut
(8,926 posts)LisaL
(44,974 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,281 posts)Minimizing pain and suffering with powerful drugs. Sometimes these overwhelm patients' central nervous systems, reducing breathing, oxygenation. At the same time, some of the same drugs are used to ease breathing and distress. Timing all these elements is complex, as is timeliness for the medical system and personnel. I think all these factors are considered in many cases, and this is why they have rules and policies. Second-guessing in the hope of conviction is a tall order, unless an extensive pattern can be presented as evidence with independent verification by qualified higher level personnel. So not every case is a "perfect call", but I think they're all doing the best they can.
paleotn
(17,956 posts)This stinks. Nurses and pharmacists are additional checks in the system. Docs can't just order whatever the hell they like at whatever dosage they like without someone balking. If it's excessive, someone would raise flags. Apparently none did...in 27 freaking cases...and the nurses and pharmacists ended up getting canned as well. Something is very, very wrong here. Very wrong. Not too surprising though. This country is fucked in the head when it comes to end of life issues.
FirstLight
(13,364 posts)I'm glad the Dr helped patients
uppityperson
(115,679 posts)LisaL
(44,974 posts)CozyMystery
(652 posts)at Emory University Hospital, we were told that their first goal was to get rid of her pain, even if she went into a coma as a result. My mom, my sister, and I agreed with that.
First they tried everything else, but they finally (thank goodness) had to give her more morphine, a dose which did put her into a coma. At least it appeared that way to us, since she was not responsive.
My sister woke me up at 4 in the morning to tell me that mom had died. I went over to the bed, and she was alive. The machines said so! The nurse had already agreed with my sister. I insisted that she was not dead (her heart rate was 70). The nurse switched the machine several times because she was sure it was broken. Each new machine, monitor, whatever it is called, showed the same heart rate.
My mom's greatest fear was that she would be pronounced dead while she was still alive. If she could hear, it was me insisting that she was still alive. I figure if she could hear me, she'd be glad I was making sure that she was not pronounced dead while she was alive.
She died for real about 20 minutes later, as we all watched her heart rate slowly decrease. We had to wait 2 hours for the nurse who pronounces deaths to arrive to pronounce her dead.
Frankly, my sister and I think the hospice waited too long to give her a stronger dose of morphine ... we argued for it for several hours while they dicked around. Our mom was in a ton of pain and she should not have had to suffer like that, even for a "little while" (depending on who is quantifying the wait).
FM123
(10,054 posts)NBachers
(17,136 posts)LisaL
(44,974 posts)"Mount Carmel acknowledged on Friday that its own internal investigation had identified five patients whose conditions may have improved with treatment. On Monday, attorneys representing some of the families of these patients identified four of them to 10 Investigates."
https://www.10tv.com/article/attorneys-identify-mount-carmel-patients-they-say-were-not-terminal
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)I would be scared to death to have someone like him as a doctor.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)I sure wouldn't want this guy as my doctor. And is there a criminal defense lawyer that would recommend him to civilly sue the hospital while his criminal trial is pending? I presume he will testify in a civil trial and that testimony can be used in a criminal trial?
PuppyBismark
(595 posts)He just made the decisions himself. I live in the city where this happened. As far as I am concerned, based on considerable information we've been exposed to here, he needs to go away for the rest of his life and then some.
A few years ago, my father-in-law was in hospice at one of the related hospitals and we were consulted throughout the process. Here this killer decided to become god and now he needs to pay for it.
There were also problems at the hospital in terms of their protocols and cross checks that did not occur and some of those people who were involved were let go.
Bayard
(22,149 posts)He begged my brother to kill him. Just too much pain for a quiet, southern gentleman and WWII veteran. I would have authorized an overdose of fentanyl in a heartbeat, if I hadn't been stuck in Calif.
Sometimes, its the right thing to do.
yaesu
(8,020 posts)they use pain meds enough so eventually their lungs fill up with fluids & they die, its a hell of a way to die and is unnecessary because religious idiot fanatics are able to dictate our laws. Religion is poison. There should be basic end of life services where the patient doesn't have to suffer.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)Do you not see that hospital admitted that at least five of the patients might have improved with proper treatment.
yaesu
(8,020 posts)wnylib
(21,606 posts)have any conclusions. It does sound disturbing that the hospital administration says that some of the people did not have terminal illnesses and could have improved. I wonder how they finally did discover what was happening since it did go on for a long time without staff intervention. If he let terminally ill older patients die without pain, mercy might have been a motive. But what would be the motive for letting people die who could have improved?
When I was 13, my father's sister died of pancreatic cancer. She opted to stsy at home instead of the hospitsl, and had morphine shots available for pain. She lasted a few months and he visited every weekend. She begged him to overdose her on morphine and he was torn between wanting to do it for her sake and knowing he couldn't. The visits became so stressful for him that he did not want to go, but could not just abandon her since he could at least.give her the comfort of not being alone and forgotten. He was withdrawn for hours after these visits.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)He also had quite an interesting incident in his past.
"In 1994, as a freshman attending Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia, Dr. Husel and a friend started stealing car stereos, court records show. When a classmate complained to authorities, Dr. Husel and the friend made plans to plant a pipe bomb under the classmates car, though the classmate was warned and the plan was never carried out. The bomb was instead detonated in an outdoor trash can. No one was hurt."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/us/ohio-doctor-overdose.html
wnylib
(21,606 posts)pre med without being expelled, let alone get a medical license? Does sound suspicious.