COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Latest on allegations that near-death patients in Ohio were given excessive pain medication (all times local):
12:40 p.m.
Records show the State Medical Board has never taken disciplinary action against an Ohio doctor accused of ordering “significantly excessive and potentially fatal” doses of pain medicine for at least 27 near-death patients in the past few years.
The Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System acknowledged the doses were larger than needed to provide comfort for dying patients. The system says it reported its findings to authorities and fired the doctor.
A related wrongful death lawsuit identifies him as William Husel.
Case records listed no attorney for Husel. Phone numbers linked to him weren’t accepting calls Tuesday.
It’s unclear whether the medical board ever received a complaint or conducted an investigation about him. Those records are confidential under Ohio law. Outcomes are made public only when the board takes formal action.
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10:30 a.m.
An Ohio hospital system says an intensive care doctor ordered “significantly excessive and potentially fatal” doses of pain medicine for at least 27 near-death patients in the past few years after families asked to stop lifesaving measures.
The Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System says it fired the doctor, notified authorities and removed 20 employees from patient care pending further investigation. Those include pharmacists and nurses who administered medication.
The announcement came after a family sued, alleging medicine was used to hasten a patient’s death. The lawsuit was filed Monday against the health system, a pharmacist, a nurse and the doctor, which it identifies as William Husel.
Case records list no attorney to comment on Husel’s behalf. There is no public personal phone listing for him.
