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Ohio Doctor Is Charged With 25 Murders in Fentanyl Overdose Deaths Ohio Doctor Is Charged With 25 Murders in Fentanyl Overdose Deaths
(about 2 hours later)
An Ohio doctor was charged on Wednesday with 25 counts of murder, with the authorities accusing him of deliberately causing patients’ deaths by prescribing fatal doses of the powerful opioid fentanyl.An Ohio doctor was charged on Wednesday with 25 counts of murder, with the authorities accusing him of deliberately causing patients’ deaths by prescribing fatal doses of the powerful opioid fentanyl.
A grand jury indicted Dr. William Husel, 43, who turned himself in to the police on Wednesday in Columbus, the state capital. The doctor, William Husel, 43, pleaded not guilty at his initial court appearance Wednesday, and a magistrate set his bond at $1 million.
The charges came after a six-month criminal investigation found that Dr. Husel purposely caused the deaths of dozens of critical-care patients over four years by ordering excessive doses of painkillers. A lawyer for Dr. Husel has said that he did not intend to kill any patients. The charges came after a six-month criminal investigation. The authorities accuse Dr. Husel of purposely causing the deaths of dozens of critical-care patients over four years by ordering excessive doses of painkillers. They have not described a motive in the case, and a lawyer for Dr. Husel has said that he did not intend to kill any patients.
“This breach of the doctor’s oath is vile,” said Tom Quinlan, the police chief in Columbus, on Wednesday. Dr. Husel, who had worked for the Mount Carmel Health System in the Columbus area, was fired in December, and the State Medical Board suspended his license. “This breach of the doctor’s oath is vile,” said Tom Quinlan, the police chief in Columbus.
Dr. Husel, who had worked for the Mount Carmel Health System in the Columbus area, was fired in December, and the State Medical Board suspended his license.
The doctor administered fentanyl in various amounts between 500 and 2,000 micrograms, according to the county prosecutor, Ron O’Brien, who said that the dosages hastened or caused the patients’ deaths.The doctor administered fentanyl in various amounts between 500 and 2,000 micrograms, according to the county prosecutor, Ron O’Brien, who said that the dosages hastened or caused the patients’ deaths.
“These are very high fentanyl doses for patients without significant opioid tolerance,” said Dr. Lewis S. Nelson, a professor of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and an expert on opioid prescriptions. He said doses of 2,000 micrograms, or even 500 micrograms, “should have been questioned” by a pharmacist or nurse, and “would generally prove consequential and most likely lethal in most patients.”“These are very high fentanyl doses for patients without significant opioid tolerance,” said Dr. Lewis S. Nelson, a professor of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and an expert on opioid prescriptions. He said doses of 2,000 micrograms, or even 500 micrograms, “should have been questioned” by a pharmacist or nurse, and “would generally prove consequential and most likely lethal in most patients.”
A typical fentanyl dose for a surgical patient is about 25 to 50 micrograms, though for procedures like open-heart surgeries, patients might get 250 to 500 micrograms, according to Harm Reduction Ohio. The criminal investigation focused on 25 cases in which more than 500 micrograms of fentanyl were given, prosecutors said, based on expert advice that there was no medical reason for those patients to receive more than that.
The county prosecutor, Mr. O’Brien, said that a pharmacist had alerted hospital authorities to high dosage amounts that sometimes required overriding the hospital protocols. Mount Carmel began an investigation, which it said was continuing, and that it was cooperating with law enforcement. The county prosecutor, Mr. O’Brien, said that a pharmacist had alerted hospital authorities to high dosage amounts that sometimes required overriding the hospital’s protocols. Mount Carmel began an inquiry, which deemed that 35 cases handled by Dr. Husel were suspicious, and a criminal investigation followed.
Each of the 25 murder charges carries a possible prison sentence of 15 years to life, and the death penalty does not apply in the case. “I likened it to the burning down of a candle,” Mr. O’Brien said of the deaths at a news conference Wednesday. “That candle, while there may just be a half an inch of wax left, if I blow that candle out, I’m causing that flame to go out sooner than it would naturally.” He said that was “a similar circumstance to what happened here.”
Dr. Husel graduated from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship at Cleveland Clinic Hospital. As a teenager, he pleaded guilty to improperly storing a destructive device or pipe bomb at Wheeling Jesuit College in Wheeling, W.V. He was sentenced to six months in jail and one year of supervised release. Nurses, pharmacists, doctors and other employees at Mount Carmel were interviewed as witnesses, the authorities said, and no one else was expected to be charged.
Mr. Husel admitted that after the device detonated in 1994, he attempted to falsely incriminate another person by placing a pipe and other items in the person’s car. Each of the 25 murder charges against the doctor carries a possible prison sentence of 15 years to life. The death penalty does not apply in the case, Mr. O’Brien said, because he did not feel he could prove prior calculation and design.
Dr. Husel graduated from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship at Cleveland Clinic Hospital. The Cleveland Clinic, upon being notified of the investigation, completed an audit of his time there and said it did not find conduct similar to what he is accused of at Mount Carmel.
In 1996, Dr. Husel pleaded guilty to improperly storing a destructive device or pipe bomb at Wheeling Jesuit College in Wheeling, W.V. He was sentenced to six months in jail and one year of supervised release.
Mr. Husel admitted that, after the device detonated in 1994, he attempted to falsely incriminate another person by placing a pipe and other items in the person’s car.