An Ohio doctor faces 25 counts of murder after being accused of prescribing fatal doses of the opioid fentanyl to 25 patients, many of them elderly and severely ill.
William Husel is accused of deliberately administering doses that led to patients’ overdose deaths. The charges came after a six-month investigation.
County prosecutor Ron O’Brien alleged Husel prescribed patients between 500 and 2,000 micrograms of the drug several times while he worked for the Mount Carmel Health System.
A typical dose is between 25 to 500 micrograms, with doses above 250 micrograms normally reserved for more severe procedures like open-heart surgeries, Harm Reduction Ohio says.
The high doses prescribed “could not support any legitimate medical purpose,” O’Brien said in a Wednesday news conference, according to the local NBC affiliate.
Husel pleaded not guilty on Wednesday. He “wants to clear his name at trial,” said Richard Blake, his lawyer.
“This is not a murder case,” said Blake. “I can assure you there was never an attempt to euthanize anyone by Dr. Husel. At no time did he ever have the intent to euthanize anyone.”
Husel was suspended Nov. 21 and fired in early December.
The Mount Carmel Health System said it “will continue to implement meaningful changes throughout our system to ensure events like these never happen again.”
