2nd suit filed over pain meds given to near-death patients

A second wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against an Ohio doctor accused of ordering that near-death hospital patients get potentially fatal doses of pain medicine without their families’ knowledge, an attorney said Wednesday.

The Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System announced this week that an intensive care doctor ordered pain medicine for at least 27 patients in dosages significantly bigger than necessary to provide comfort for them after their families asked that lifesaving measures be stopped.

Mount Carmel publicly apologized and said it has fired the doctor, reported findings of its internal investigation to authorities and removed 20 employees from patient care pending further review.

The announcement involving patients from the past few years raised questions about whether drugs were used to hasten deaths intentionally and possibly illegally.

The new lawsuit alleges one of the patients, 64-year-old Bonnie Austin, of Columbus, was killed negligently or intentionally in September when she was given an outsize dose of the painkiller fentanyl and a powerful sedative ordered by a doctor who said she was brain-dead.

Medical records indicate the drugs were administered before her husband decided to withdraw life support, said attorney David Shroyer, who represents the family.

Their lawsuit was filed against Dr. William Husel, the health system, a pharmacist who approved the drugs and a nurse who administered them.

Court records list no attorney to comment on Husel’s behalf, and phone numbers linked to him weren’t accepting calls.

The lawsuit, which seeks financial damages, is aimed at determining what happened and why, and ensuring it’s not repeated, Shroyer said.

Mount Carmel said it wants that, too.

“We’re doing everything to understand how this happened and what we need to do to ensure that it never happens again,” system President and CEO Ed Lamb said in a video statement .

The Franklin County prosecutor said Mount Carmel has cooperated with an ongoing investigation.

Husel’s work also is under internal review by the Cleveland Clinic, where he was a supervised resident from 2008 to 2013. The medical center said its preliminary review found his prescribing practices were “consistent with appropriate care.”

Records show the State Medical Board in Ohio has never taken disciplinary action against Husel. It’s unclear whether that board ever received a complaint or conducted an investigation about him, as such records are confidential and outcomes are public only if the board takes formal action.

Shroyer said he expects the case will prompt other hospitals to review their own procedures and safeguards.

“I think every hospital in the country is going to be saying, ‘Could this happen at our hospital? And if it can, let’s fix it,'” he said.

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