OH - Dr. William Husel accused of murdering 25 patients w/ Fentanyl Overdoses, Franklin Co, 2019 *not guilty*

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Ray_of_hope said:
Did the pharmacy fill the med request and did a nurse administer them? This would make more than the physician culpable IMO. If the MD has determined the patient to be brain dead, there would have to be objective evidence in the form of EEG's, etc. I'm sure LE is investigating to see if those protocols were met. How very sad.
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Brain dead patients are legally dead and supposedly can't feel anything, in which case what would be the reason to give them fentanyl? Dr. would just turn off life support in cases where patients are brain dead, as these patients are unable to breathe on their own, that would be it for them.
 
Bryant_Denny said:
I am not sure of Ohio state law, but some states require that 2 physicians must declare brain death. This is the law in my state.
As we know from older cases involving brain death in the media, some states do not require physicians to obtain consent from family members prior to withdrawal of ventilatory support.

Critical Care Commentary: Brain death – patient, law, and family
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In OH brain death is considered death. If those patients were truly brain dead I don't think this doctor could have been charged, because:
"A physician who makes a determination of death in accordance with this section and accepted medical standards is not liable for damages in any civil action or subject to prosecution in any criminal proceeding for his acts or the acts of others based on that determination."
Policy on Brain Death
 
jjenny said:
Brain dead patients are legally dead and supposedly can't feel anything, in which case what would be the reason to give them fentanyl? Dr. would just turn off life support in cases where patients are brain dead, as these patients are unable to breathe on their own, that would be it for them.
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For comfort care. We don’t know with 100% certainty the person does not feel anything. Ever been present when a ventilator is turned off? Or once they take the ETT out for family to gather and say their last goodbyes? It is not as simple as it sounds. There’s gasping, choking, and a few other not so pleasant sounds along with them visibly looking like they are dying. This is why we give certain types medications.
 
Bryant_Denny said:
For comfort care. We don’t know with 100% certainty the person does not feel anything. Ever been present when a ventilator is turned off? Or once they take the ETT out for family to gather and say their last goodbyes? It is not as simple as it sounds. There’s gasping, choking, and a few other not so pleasant sounds along with them visibly looking like they are dying. This is why we give certain types medications.
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Again, brain dead is legally dead in OH. If those patients were brain dead, the doctor couldn't have been charged with killing them because they were already dead.
 
Snippped and BBM
jjenny said:
Brain dead patients are legally dead and supposedly can't feel anything, in which case what would be the reason to give them fentanyl?
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My post addressed your question as to why one would administer Fentanyl or any narcotic for that matter to a brain dead person...it’s called ethical practice
 
MOO....
I wonder if pharmacy staff had to hand deliver the fentanyl? I can’t imagine most facilities stock such high dosages of Fentanyl on the unit. If the medication was delivered by pharmacy, maybe his intention was not for the patient to receive the dose he prescribed and some RN who had no earthly idea WTH s/he was doing administered the entire dose. Meaning, those involved in this (pharmD, RN, and MD) were not able to get to the drugs (divert) before the assigned RN administered the entire dose.
Diverting for personal use or selling for cash? Again MOO and just throwing this out there as a possibility

Anyone have any ideas for a motive?
 
Doctor is the one who issues an order on how much drug to administer, not the nurse deciding on their own.
"... that there was a clear chain of command in which the doctor "issues an order, a nurse takes medicine from a machine, and either that nurse or another administers" the drug on the doctor's behalf."
Why did Ohio doctor allegedly kill 25 patients? A motive remains a mystery.
 
In most cases this is the way things work, but not all the time. Speaking from experience, not all things in medicine are black and white. We don’t know the specifics of the medication orders which include many variables.
 
Holy Mother......

Attorney: Husel gave patient paralytics before lethal fentanyl dose

Okay this is sick, cruel, Inhumane, and unbelievable!!
If these accusations are true, he gave this poor lady 2 potent paralytics, followed by Fentanyl 2,000 mcg! This is just nuts...and makes absolutely no friggin sense. I’m sure after receiving the paralytics alone she appeared to be brain dead and quite possibly she was NOT.
 
jjenny said:
Doctor is the one who issues an order on how much drug to administer, not the nurse deciding on their own.
"... that there was a clear chain of command in which the doctor "issues an order, a nurse takes medicine from a machine, and either that nurse or another administers" the drug on the doctor's behalf."
Why did Ohio doctor allegedly kill 25 patients? A motive remains a mystery.
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"FIRST, the law expects that you have a basic understanding of any drug you administer. This means you know what the drug is intended to treat, its adverse effects and contraindications, the expected outcomes, its therapeutic and toxic doses, and its usual route. Unless an order is questionable, the law also expects that you administer the drug as ordered. Here are some circumstances that put those expectations at risk and how you can avoid liability:" (snipped)

"The order isn’t clear. An unclear order is any order that you or another health care professional—frequently the pharmacist—has questions about. You don’t need “evidence” that the order is unclear; even a gut feeling that something is wrong (perhaps the route or dose seems unusual) warrants questioning the presciber who wrote the order. Remember, you aren’t protected from liability just because you followed the prescriber’s order." (snipped)

Nursing malpractice: Understanding the risks
 
Interesting past history of one time basketball captain William Husel. There were goods and bads but this one fact stood out: "
"Husel pleaded guilty in 1996 to a federal misdemeanor charge after he stored a pipe bomb in a dorm room, a device he later used to blow up a trash can near a health and recreation center on the private school’s Wheeling campus.

Husel tried to frame another person for the crime by planting bomb-making materials in that person’s car, according to U.S. District Court documents filed in the 23-year-old case." (snipped)

Former Mount Carmel doctor William Husel has complicated past
 
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Bryant_Denny said:
For comfort care. We don’t know with 100% certainty the person does not feel anything. Ever been present when a ventilator is turned off? Or once they take the ETT out for family to gather and say their last goodbyes? It is not as simple as it sounds. There’s gasping, choking, and a few other not so pleasant sounds along with them visibly looking like they are dying. This is why we give certain types medications.
Click to expand...
I agree. I've given meds if I see grimacing. It could just be from stimulation, but what if pain is felt on some level? It's still controversial but not worth the risk IMO.
Why do some doctors anesthetize brain-dead patients? | The Japan Times
 
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