Dr. William Husel was a critical care anesthesiologist who worked at Mount Carmel between 2013 and 2018, soon after completing his supervised residency at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
At least 27 patients treated by Dr. Husel in the intensive care unit were given excessive doses of painkillers before they died, investigators say.
In October 2018, Mount Carmel received the first formal report of concerns regarding Dr. Husel giving near-death patients “excessive doses” of fentanyl.
Over the next four weeks, Dr. Husel was allowed to keep working — and during that time, 3 more of his patients died, and 2 more formal reports detailing concerns about his care were submitted to the hospital.
In January 2019, the first wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Mount Carmel by the family of Janet Kavanaugh.
Another 3 lawsuits were filed over the next few days by some of Dr. Husel’s other alleged victims — Bonnie Austin, Troy Allison, and Jan Thomas — and more lawsuits are expected to be filed.
As of January 24, Mount Carmel has identified a total of 34 patients who were given excessive doses of painkillers by Dr. Husel. The hospital also admitted that he should have been fired earlier.
Most of the patients were near death and the families had decided to stop live-saving measures, but the hospital is also investigating whether some of his patients got excessive doses of fentanyl while they still had a chance to live, or if families were misled about their loved ones’ conditions.
Source: Three patients die after receiving excessive pain medicine, hospital says