A doctor who allegedly ordered excessive doses of opioids to dozens of near-death patients a faces murder charges in the deaths of 14 intensive care unit patients.
"It puts a lot of drama on the trial," said former prosecutor Ric Simmons, who teaches criminal law at Ohio State University. "The defense can say that you think you know this story, but you don't know the whole version yet, and you shouldn't put a judgment on it until you do."Husel, 46, has not spoken publicly or given media interviews since the allegations of misconduct first arose in a series of lawsuits filed by families in early 2019.
If prosecutors steer toward a reckless homicide argument for a particular count, then jurors would have to decide whether the doctor knowingly engaged in behavior that could result in a death, and not that it was his intent to kill. His lawyers have contended that the answer is yes, and the doctor was trying to provide comfort to people who were dying and in excruciating pain as they were being taken off ventilators.
Simmons said Husel's lawyers will be careful not to suggest that the ordering of large doses of fentanyl for comfort care was meant to quicken patients' deaths.Hearing from Husel Also up for discussion will be if there was any apparent pushback from other hospital staff, including the nurses, over the amount of fentanyl allegedly ordered.
that"it's ludicrous to think you're going to convince 38 health care workers to collude to end anyone's life prematurely."Maddie McGarvey / NYT via Redux fileAbout 35 families filed wrongful-death lawsuits against him, the hospital and other staff, with several of the families settling for a total of about $13.5 million. Husel's wife, Mariah Baird, who was a nurse at Mount Carmel, was also named in at least one of the suits.
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