The trial of Dr. William Husel is being livestreamed each day on NBC4i.com and the NBC4 app. 3:46 p.m. update: Proceedings have ended for the day. The trial is expected to resume Thursday at 9 a.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Nurses who worked alongside former Mount Carmel West Dr. William Husel in the ICU testified Wednesday about the doctor’s character — and what led them to administer potentially fatal doses of fentanyl to critically ill patients.
Three former ICU nurses and one internal medicine physician took the witness stand Wednesday in the murder trial of Dr. Husel, who is accused of ordering lethal doses of the painkiller fentanyl for dozens of critically ill patients — often without approval from the hospital’s pharmacy.
Husel, 46, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of 14 ICU patients who were under his care at the former Mount Carmel West from 2015 to 2018. His defense attorneys contend that Husel was providing comfort care to dying patients.
First on the stand Wednesday was Wesley Black, a former ICU nurse at Mount Carmel West, who testified to prosecuting attorney Janet Grubb that Husel was known in the hospital for mentoring and teaching new nurses — and taking a “more aggressive” approach to treatment, medications and dosing.
During his training at Mount Carmel, Black said there was some discussion about encouraging nurses to not be afraid to give pain medications, as many ICU patients are in a lot of pain. He testified that he received no formal training about proper dosing levels of narcotics, like fentanyl.
“Sometimes it may be even more than you’re used to giving, but this is sort of a painful process in the dying process,” Black said.
Black said he cared for two of Husel’s patients, Rebecca Walls, 75, and Melissa Penix, 82, who both died in November 2018 after being administered 1,000 and 2,000 micrograms, respectively, of fentanyl ordered by Husel.
Although Black said the pharmacy at Mount Carmel rejected painkiller orders for Walls, Husel allegedly assured him multiple times that “the order was good to go.”
Either Black or another nurse, Ms. Bond, administered the medication to Walls, Black said. Within minutes of receiving the dose — and more than three weeks after a formal complaint was filed against Husel — Walls died, according to a wrongful death complaint filed by the administrator of Walls’ estate.
“My perception of Dr. Husel was that he was very regular in the sense that he would do the same processes, approve these processes and do them the same way every time,” Black said. “Given that he had done this numerous times, I presumed this to be the standard for his practice.”
After Grubb finishing questioning Black, defense attorney Jose Baez asked Black about the care that he and Husel provided to Penix, who received 2,000 micrograms of fentanyl.
Black said that Husel reserved conversations with family members about removing a patient from a ventilator only in serious situations where a patient’s health was rapidly declining.
“He didn’t enter this conversation quickly or lightly,” Black said. “It was just in situations like this where the patient reached very unstable conditions.”
His intent in administering the dose of fentanyl ordered by Husel was to provide Penix, whose family was seriously concerned with her inability to breathe, with comfort care — never to hasten her death or hurt her, Black said.
“She had a great feeling of suffocation and not being able to breathe so there was an anxiety portion of this as well that seemed very specific to this patient,” Black said.
The second witness to take the stand Wednesday was Dr. Jeff Thurston, an internal medicine physician at Mount Carmel, who was questioned by prosecuting attorney David Zeyen about his initial care of Danny Mollette, a 74-year-old who died under Husel’s care in December 2017.
Thurston, who said he analyzed Mollette when he first came to Mount Carmel, signed Mollette’s death certificate and noted the cause of death as septic shock and bacteria that had entered the bloodstream.
Thurston testified that he did not review Mollette’s medical records indicating that he received 1,000 micrograms of fentanyl prior to his death, while defense attorney Jaime Lapidus emphasized the number of cardiac arrests Mollette suffered at the ICU. Thurston agreed, stating that Mollette had “multiple” cardiac arrests before his death.
Two more former ICU nurses at Mount Carmel, Jordan Blair and Kathleen McDowell, took the stand and both testified that Husel often taught other ICU staff about medical procedures and ways to better care for patients.
Although both nurses said they did not learn about narcotics dosing while in nursing school, Blair testified that Husel was the only doctor who shared articles pertaining to medication dosing to other ICU staff members.
“Just a genuine guy when he was talking to family members and powers of attorney about how sick the patients were,” Blair, who cared for Walls, said. “I believe he cared for his patients deeply.”
Family members of some of Husel’s alleged victims took the stand Tuesday, testifying — some over tears — how their loved ones were treated at the former doctor’s hands.
Monday’s testimony included former intensive care unit nurses from Mount Carmel West who described what it was like to work with Husel.
Some ICU nurses also testified last week, saying that under Husel’s direction, they administered potentially fatal doses of fentanyl to critically ill patients. In addition, hospitalists contracted by Mount Carmel and physicians who signed the death certificates for several of Husel’s patients also testified last week.
Attorneys have said the trial could last at least eight weeks.
Here are some of the individuals who may appear during the proceedings:
Judge
Defendant
Defense attorneys
Prosecuting attorneys
- Taylor Mick
