Officials at Mount Carmel Health System say they’ve notified authorities about a doctor accused of giving “significantly excessive and potentially fatal doses” to more than two dozen near-death patients.In a statement Monday, Mount Carmel CEO Edward Lamb said they’ve fired the doctor, identified in a lawsuit as Dr. William Husel.
"During the five years he worked here, this doctor ordered significantly excessive and potentially fatal doses of pain medication for at least 27 patients who were near death. These patients' families had requested that all life-saving measures be stopped, yet the amount of medicine the doctor ordered was more than what was needed to provide comfort. On behalf of Mount Carmel and Trinity Health, our parent organization, we apologize for this tragedy, and we're truly sorry for the additional grief this may cause these families,” the statement said.
The statement says Mount Carmel has removed 20 other hospital staff from providing further patient care while they gather more facts.
“This includes a number of nurses who administered the medication and a number of staff pharmacists who were also involved in the related patient care,” the statement says.
The statement came hours after the filing of a lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. It alleges Dr. Husel ordered 1,000 micrograms of fentanyl be given to patient Janet Kavanaugh of Grove City at Mount Carmel West in 2017. The lawsuit, which says Kavanaugh died minutes after receiving the injection, also names Mount Carmel, a nurse, and a pharmacist as defendants.
