COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Top hospital executives at Mount Carmel and even a physician from Tennessee took the witness stand in the second week of the murder trial of former Mount Carmel Dr. William Husel.

Husel, 46, is facing murder charges in the deaths of 14 ICU patients who were under his care at the former Mount Carmel West hospital from 2015 to 2018. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

While prosecutors argue that Husel administered fatal doses of the opioid painkiller fentanyl that served no therapeutic purpose, the former physician’s defense team has contended that Husel was providing comfort care to critically ill patients.

Both the prosecution and defense called several witnesses to bolster their arguments and attempt to uncover the events that unfolded at Mount Carmel West.

One of the state’s key witnesses who testified this week was Dr. Wes Ely, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University and pulmonary and critical care medicine specialist.

Ely gave scathing reviews of Husel’s “mind-boggling” medication orders and later admitted, while being cross examined by defense attorney Diane Menashe, that he opposed euthanasia.

Most of the patients who received fentanyl under Husel’s care received 1,000 micrograms of the opioid, one even receiving 2,000 micrograms — a dose that Ely said would he would never administer “all at once” as it would likely “stop someone from breathing entirely” and “hasten death.”

When administering the drug, Ely said he starts with a lower dose and then assesses the patient’s response to the drug to determine if they need more.

“The highest dose of fentanyl I ever gave in a single case was 200 micrograms — to a person who had been receiving fentanyl for ten days, hourly,” he said. “I would never give even 300 micrograms in a single dose for fear of killing them.”

While the prosecution questioned Ely about specific fentanyl doses, the defense countered by asking Ely about his own personal beliefs about euthanasia.

Menashe asked Ely about an award — “outstanding service to the pro-life movement” — that he won. Ely responded that the award was based on his “work with euthanasia.”

“But you don’t believe in euthanasia,” Menashe said.

“Right,” he said.

Other notable testimony this week came from John “Sean” O’Connell, the former director of pharmacy at Mount Carmel West, who spoke about how he and other senior hospital executives handled concerns regarding fentanyl doses order by Husel.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Diane Menashe questioned O’Connell about a separation agreement between him and Mount Carmel West that prohibited him from speaking about any of the involved parties in Husel’s case — unless served with a subpoena, he said.

O’Connell, whose tenure at Mount Carmel West extended more than 40 years, testified that he felt as though he was treated unfairly by the hospital when he was terminated in July 2019.

Former Mount Carmel West Vice President Dr. Larry Swanner took the stand Wednesday to discuss steps the hospital took following reports of Husel’s medication orders.

“I decided to start an investigation myself into these cases. I had looked at the voice complaints regarding them. I also looked into the patient records and discovered high doses of fentanyl and versed, much higher than I had personally seen used previously,” Swanner said. “I was quite alarmed by that.”

Swanner said he placed Husel on administrative leave in 2018, and a few months later, Swanner himself was terminated from the hospital. Swanner told defense attorney Jose Baez that he was never given a reason as to why he was fired.

“And you blame Dr. Husel for being forced into retirement, don’t you sir?” Baez asked.

“I blame several factors: being terminated, COVID, my age, I think what occurred around Dr. Husel and his behavior also contributed to that,” Swanner said.

Although proceedings scheduled for Friday were canceled over concern that recent testimony potentially relied on privileged information, a judge ordered Swanner to return next week “to testify solely for the purpose of clarifying what report he was relying on in reaching his conclusion that Defendant was the only physician” ordering 500 micrograms of fentanyl or above, according to court records with the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

In addition to Swanner, prosecuting and defense attorneys will introduce a brand new slate of witnesses next week — in a trial that’s expected to last eight weeks.