COLUMBUS, Ohio — William Husel has filed a defamation lawsuit against Mount Carmel Health System, its parent company, Trinity Health Corporation, and former Mount Carmel President and CEO Edward Lamb.
In the complaint filed on Thursday, lawyers for the former Mount Carmel doctor allege that he was falsely accused by Mount Carmel and its corporate executives of intentionally murdering 25 patients.
The complaint claims these statements were repeated on numerous occasions in “non-stop” press releases and other public statements.
The complaint also claims In 2014 and 2015, Husel gave terminally ill patients relatively lower doses (200 and 400 mcg of fentanyl) and realized the patients were still suffering.
Husel’s attorneys say these cases had “a profound” affect on Husel and he believed that large doses may be needed but that each one of those decisions is “patient specific.”
Mount Carmel Health System released this statement in response to Husel’s lawsuit:
"Allegations such as these are unfounded. We completed an extensive review of patient care provided by Dr. William Husel and stand by our decisions. Mount Carmel’s focus continues to be on caring for our patients."
Earlier this month, a lawsuit filed by 10 former Mount Carmel employees defended the actions of Husel and alleges that Mount Carmel and Trinity Health defamed the doctor and nurses who worked with him in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Husel is facing 25 counts of murder and is accused of giving his patients too much fentanyl. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in June.
To date, 31 wrongful death lawsuits have been filed in the wake of the patient overdose scandal.