William Husel, an Ohio critical care doctor has been charged with killing 25 patients by deliberately prescribing lethal doses of opioids

Husel who has worked with Mount Carmel Health Systems from 2014 to 2018 five years, was indicted by grand jury on 25 counts of murder Wednesday

He is accused of intentionally prescribing lethal amounts of painkillers, mainly the synthetic opioid fentanyl, to 29 patients between 2014 and 2018, resulting in the deaths of all but four of them

The 43-year-old physician has pled NOT GUILTY as he attorney claims he was providing ‘comfort care for dying patients and didn’t intend to hasten their deaths’,  contrary to prosecution allegations

35 patients have been identified as having received excessive doses of pain medication, 29 of the patients, the hospital says, received potentially lethal doses of pain medications.

Husel was fired by Mount Carmel for in December and stripped of his medical license after the allegations came to light

Prosecutors face a legal hurdle proving that Husel ordered doses without medical justification and intending to cause deaths, even if the drugs were actually administered by a nurse or other colleague

He’s being held on $1million bond

Records reveal Husel detonated a pipe bomb in a trash can while at college and ‘then tried to frame another person for the crime’

He pled guilty to improperly storing a destructive device or pipe bomb in 1996 

Husel who was sentenced to six months in jail and one year of supervised release, blamed his college crime on ‘immaturity’ and ‘peer pressure’

Dr William Husel [photo] was indicted for 25 counts of murder by a grand jury in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday 

The Ohio critical care doctor William Husel is charged with killing 25 patients by deliberately prescribing lethal doses of opioids.

To date, 35 patients have been identified as having received excessive doses of pain medication, 29 of the patients, the hospital says, received potentially lethal doses of pain medications.

Prosecutors and police updated reporters on the status of its investigation Wednesday morning, focusing on the deaths of 25 of the 35 patients who died under Husel’s care.

Dr William Husel [L-R], is pleading not guilty to the murder of 25 patients under his care, by willfully prescribing excessive doses of opioids – His attorney claims he was merely ‘providing comfort care’

Husel was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday in one of the largest murder cases in the state’s history. He has pleaded not guilty.
He was fired from the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System in December and stripped of his medical license after the allegations came to light.

The 43-year-old had turned himself in at Columbus Police Headquarters Wednesday morning before appearing at an arraignment, where his bond was set at $1million.
Mount Carmel Health System claims that Husel ordered potentially fatal drug doses for 29 patients, including at least five who still had a chance to improve their conditions with treatment, over a period of four years.

The hospital system said six more patients got doses that were excessive but likely didn’t cause their deaths.
Many of the patients who died had been seriously ill when given the painkillers.

William Husel [left] is seen arriving at the downtown Columbus Division of Police headquarters where he was charged with 25 counts of murder on Wednesday

 Dr. Husel had worked at Mount Carmel for five years when concerns about his conduct were raised last October. He was removed from patient care four weeks later and terminated on December 5, 2018.

Prosecutors however, face a legal hurdle as they pursue 25 murder charges against the Ohio doctor accused of essentially using his colleagues as weapons by ordering fatal painkiller doses for hospital patients but not directly administering them himself, legal experts say.
His lawyer, Richard Blake, said Husel was trying to provide ‘comfort care’ for dying patients and didn’t intend to hasten their deaths, as prosecutors allege.

If the case goes to trial, legal experts said, a key challenge for prosecutors would be proving that Husel ordered doses without medical justification and intending to cause deaths, even if the drugs were actually administered by a nurse or other colleague.
Other employees from the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System were treated as witnesses and aren’t being prosecuted, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said.
Hospital system officials has said all employees who were part of administering medication for affected patients have been removed from patient care as a precaution.
The hospital has publicly apologized and pledged to continue cooperating with authorities. ‘Mount Carmel has made and will continue to implement meaningful changes throughout our system to ensure events like these never happen again,’ the hospital said. 

Nineteen of the patients allegedly killed by Dr William Husel by deliberately prescribing lethal doses of opioids: From top [L-R],  Bonnie Austin, Jan Thomas, Janet Kavanaugh, Jim Allen, James Nickolas Timmons, Tim Fitzpatrick, Corrinia Blake, Rebecca Walls, Saunders Young Jr, Joanne Bellisari, Sue Hodge, Norma Welch, Thelma Kyer, Robert Lee, Donald McCluno, Beverlee Schirtzinger, Larry Brigner and Melissa Penix

In January a family sued the hospital, alleging medicine was used to hasten 79-year-old Janet Kavanaugh’s death.
The attorney who brought the lawsuit said, in that case, either layers of safeguards repeatedly failed to flag a ‘grossly excessive’ dosage of fentanyl, or the medical professionals intended to accelerate the death of Kavanaugh in late 2017.

Janet Kavanaugh was given 1,000 micrograms of fentanyl through an IV, causing her to die in 18 minutes, the lawsuit claims.
Other alleged victims include Bonnie Austin, Jan Thomas, Janet Kavanaugh, Jim Allen, Troy Allison, Joanne Bellisari, Sue Hodge, Norma Welch, Thelma Kyer, Robert Lee, James Nickolas Timmons, Tim Fitzpatrick, Corrinia Blake, Rebecca Walls, Saunders Young Jr, Donald McCluno, Beverlee Schirtzinger, Larry Brigner, Ryan Hayes, Sandra Castle, Brandy McDonald, Virginia Brokamp, Michael Walters, Peggy Francies, Emma Brogan, Sherrie White, Lora Stone and Melissa Penix.
The alleged victim’s ages ranged from 37 to 85.

Fentanyl is a powerful opioid pain medication nearly 100 times stronger than morphine

Mount Carmel Hospital System has publicly apologized and pledged to continue cooperating with authorities. All employees who were part of administering medication for affected patients have been removed from patient care as a precaution.

Records now reveal that as a student Husel detonated a pipe bomb in a trash can while at college, according to reports.
William Husel, 43, is said to have blamed his crime on ‘immaturity’ and ‘giving in to peer pressure’, after he then tried to frame another person for the crime, Inside Edition reports.
He pled guilty to improperly storing a destructive device or pipe bomb at Wheeling Jesuit College in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1996.
Husel was sentenced to six months in jail and one year of supervised release.
Husel admitted that after the device detonated on campus in 1994, he attempted to frame another person by putting a pipe in their car, reports say.
He had originally been indicted on three charges of malicious damage by means of explosive device, possession of an unregistered explosive device and unlawful making of an explosive device, court records show.