Mount Carmel doctor, nurse and pharmacist accused of administering lethal doses of fentanyl
COLUMBUS – A Mount Carmel West doctor, nurse and pharmacist have been accused of ordering and providing lethal doses of fentanyl to an Ohio woman and as many as 26 other patients, according to a civil lawsuit filed Monday and statements made by the hospital.
The physician, Dr. William Husel, has been fired, according to a hospital statement, and 20 other hospital staff have been removed from providing further patient care while the hospital investigates.
Reached by phone Monday, Husel declined to comment 10 Investigates. An email and voice message were left for his attorney.
According to a copy of the complaint, Mount Carmel hospital administration reached out to former patient Janet Kavanaugh’s family on Monday, January 14, 2019 and alleged that the “actions described in the lawsuit are not an isolated incident, but rather, a repeated course of conduct by the Defendants with respect to at least 26 other patients at Mount Carmel.”
Mount Carmel released a statement to 10 Investigates that read in part:
“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 went on to say: “We’re working hard to learn all we can about these cases, and we removed 20 hospital staff from providing further patient care while we 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.
Mount Carmel provides compassionate care that takes into account the decisions of patients and their families. We believe in helping patients who are near death die peacefully and naturally.
The actions instigated by this doctor were unacceptable and inconsistent with the values and practices of Mount Carmel, regardless of the reasons the actions were taken. We take responsibility for the fact that the processes in place were not sufficient to prevent these actions from happening. We’re doing everything to understand how this happened and what we need to do to ensure it never happens again. We’re joined in this effort by leaders of Trinity Health and we’ve asked outside experts to assist us.”
Two other people named in the lawsuit, nurse Tyler Rudman and pharmacist Talon Schroyer, also declined to comment when reached by phone Monday evening. They also declined to say if they’re still working for the hospital.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, alleges that Dr. William Husel ordered 1,000 micrograms of fentanyl be administered to an Ohio woman, Janet Kavanaugh, through her IV.
“Defendant Husel’s order of a grossly excessive and inappropriate dosage of Fentanyl was reviewed and approved by Mount Carmel’s pharmacist – Defendant Schroyer – and the medication was made available to Defendant Rudman, Janet’s nurse,” the lawsuit states. “Defendant Schroyer knew that the ordered dosage of Fentanyl was grossly inappropriate, served no therapeutic purpose or function, and would only serve to hasten the termination of Janet Kavanaugh’s life.”
The lawsuit goes on to allege that Rudman administered the lethal dose of Fentanyl to Kavanaugh on December 11, 2017 and that she died within minutes of receiving the injection.
Filed under: General Problems
The “naturalistic experiment” taking place in Oregon is a travesty. Using unethical and inhumane “EXPERIMENTAL”treatments on patients declaired, by educated researchers, as ‘contemptible addicts’ are diagnosed persons NEEDLESSLY suffering from painful conditions. This is a controlled GENOCIDE. No one wants to hear PATIENT complaints much less treat them with medications that have been proven to greatly moderate pain ISSUES. Opiate medications have been a staple in pain management for decades. Oregon seems to be the ground zero to establish Hitler like tactics, obliterating/deleting the sick and weak from our CIVILIZED SOCIETY. This is barbaric, ILLEGAL, INHUMANE and UNACCEPTABLE. We the people must figure out how to end these horrendous practices before Marshall Law becomes our way of government. Our dissent must be heard. Patient MIS-treatment and civil rights are the ISSUES that are being denied and abused.
This guy should move to Oregon, the state that demands that people live in agony but is willing to provide (& cover) drugs for people to kill themselves. And they’ve officially defined their sadistic refusal of opioids to patients that have been stable for decades (& everybody else) a “Naturalistic Experiment.” (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03393143)
I worked in basic medical research for many years, & know the huge mass of regulations that exist to minimize, as much as is at all possible, the suffering of lab animals –it’s deemed unethical & cruel. Yet Oregon has no problem whatsoever being unethical & cruel to its poor human population….in fact, those behind the sadist “Naturalistic Experiment” are positively ecstatic about forcing us stupid, malingering, contemptible “addicts” (their term) off all opioids & into things like acupuncture & chiropractic. I’m sure it’s a total coincidence that most of the members of the Chronic Pain Task Farce are, themselves, acupuncturists & chiropractors….
Whole story? Not defending what appears to be deliberate overdosing to hasten death, but more facts needed. These patients had ceased curative treatment and were actively dying. How many were already on opioids? How much? I’ve cared for terminal patients on huge doses of fentanyl to control pain. I’ve also seen family members who don’t fully understand blame death on a usual dose of pain medicine, rather than the natural process.