Husel’s lawyers argued that he was providing comforting care to dying patients, not trying to kill them.
A doctor accused of administering large amounts of fentanyl that led to multiple critically ill patient deaths was acquitted of 14 counts of murder on Wednesday. William Husel,46, a former doctor at Mount Carmel West Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, was found not guilty on all counts of murder nearly two months after the trial began. Jurors also had the option to convict Husel with lesser charges of attempted murder but chose to acquit after six days of deliberation. Husel worked as a doctor in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Mount Carmel West. He was indicted in cases that involved at least 500 micrograms of the opioid painkiller fentanyl. Husel was fired from the hospital in December 2018 after an internal investigation found he ordered «excessive and potentially fatal» doses of pain medication to 25 or more patients who were near death, according to court documents.
