Ohio Doc Not Guilty After Overprescribing Opioids To Dying Patients

COLUMBUS, OH — An ICU doctor who authorities said gave deadly doses of fentanyl to hasten the deaths of critically ill patients has been found not guilty of murder charges.

The verdict came Tuesday in Dr. William Husel's murder trial after jurors said they were deadlocked. They had been considering a decision since April 12.

Husel, 46, worked as a night doctor in the intensive care unit at Mount Carmel Hospital West. He and his attorney embraced at the defense table after hearing the final not guilty verdict, CNN reported. Husel was subsequently discharged from the courtroom.

In 2019, Husel was indicted on more than two dozen murder counts, though 11 were later dismissed. If convicted of any of the 14 counts, Husel would have faced life in prison with parole possible after 15 years.

The Mount Carmel Health System removed Husel from patient care in 2018 and fired him in December of that year following a report about his care. At the time, the hospital said three people died after receiving excessive — and potentially deadly — doses of drugs that he had ordered.

An attorney for the health system said Husel gave high doses of fentanyl that they believed were "inappropriate and not for a legitimate medical purpose." The doses, prosecutors said at the time, were "designed to hasten the death of the patients that were being treated."

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, approved for treating severe pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is up to 100 times more potent than morphine.

Jose Baez, an attorney for Husel, said in court that Husel was trying to minimize his patients’ pain as they died. He said the health system didn’t set limits on fentanyl dosages and that the patients eventually died after being removed from ventilators.

“There is no such thing as a medical murder case,” Baez told jurors, according to The Daily Beast. “And … this is not a murder case, and it’s far from it. William Husel was exercising compassion to his patients and tried to free them of pain and let their last moments on Earth be ones of peace.”

An anesthesiologist from Atlanta testified that there is no generally accepted maximum dosage for critically ill patients in pain. He said fentanyl and midazolam are solely used for pain and anxiety relief for patients facing death.