An intensive care doctor at Mount Carmel Health System may have purposely overdosed multiple patients with a deadly amount of fentanyl. If your loved one died or sustained an injury while being treated by William Huesel, you may have grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit. Contact Crandall & Pera Law today to find out how we can help.
Patients are dying at Mount Carmel
People wrongly attribute the phrase “First, do no harm” to the Hippocratic Oath. But you know what it does say?
“I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrong-doing. Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course” (emphasis ours).
So the oath is pretty clear: don’t murder your patients. Yet one doctor in Mount Carmel may have attempted to do just that.
Per a report by the Associated Press, an intensive care physician at Mount Carmel Health System “ordered ‘significantly excessive and potentially fatal” doses of pain medicine for at least 27 near-death patients in the past few years after families asked that lifesaving measures be stopped.” At this time, 20 employees (including pharmacists and nurses) have been “removed” from patient care, as part of an ongoing investigation.
A lawsuit has already been filed against one nurse, one pharmacist, and one doctor named William Huesel. Though no criminal charges have yet been filed against Huesel, he was fired as a part of the investigation.
The victims of a rogue doctor
The AP claims that “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 the patient, 79-year-old Janet Kavanaugh.” Ms. Kavanaugh’s family has filed a lawsuit against the hospital, a pharmacist, a nurse, and William Huesel.
But this is not the only victim; 27 other people have been identified as potential victims of Huesel, and not all of them were facing the end of their lives. On January 17, 2019, WKBN reported that Troy Allison was also overdosed while being treated at Mount Carmel, which claimed that Mr. Allison’s organs were failing. However, per his wife Christine, her husband’s condition was not terminal. Her attorney stated “We’re not seeing anything to suggest that this patient’s prognosis was terminal.”
On January 22, 2019, WCBE reported that another victim, 37-year-old James Timmons, had been identified. Per that report, “The autopsy showed Timmons had a mix of cocaine and fentanyl in his system” when he died in October. It is hard to believe that a doctor wouldn’t know that a mix of cocaine and fentanyl, one of the strongest and deadliest drugs in the world, would be fatal.
Making a claim for compensation if your loved one was killed or injured
While other states may have assisted suicide laws on their books, it is still technically illegal in Ohio. Because of this, you may be entitled to compensation if your loved one was negligently or purposely overdosed with fentanyl while under the care of William Huesel, or while being treated at Mount Carmel Health System. Crandall & Pera Law routinely represents clients in high-profile and complex lawsuits, including wrongful death and medical malpractice claims, in Columbus and throughout Ohio. You could be entitled to damages such as:
- Funeral and burial costs
- Medical bills
- Loss of wages
- Pain and suffering
- Punitive damages for gross negligence
To learn more about our services, or to schedule a free consultation at one of our offices throughout Ohio or Kentucky, please call 877-686-8879 or fill out our contact form.