William Husel, DO, who has been charged with 25 counts of murder, is suing Columbus, Ohio-based Mount Carmel Health System, its former CEO and its parent company for defamation, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Dr. Husel, a former physician at Mount Carmel Health System, was charged June 5 in the deaths of 25 hospital patients. He was charged after an investigation concluded that he purposely caused the deaths of the patients between 2015 and 2018 by ordering excessive painkiller doses for terminally ill patients.
In a defamation lawsuit filed Dec. 26, Dr. Husel says the allegations are untrue and the "fallout from those false accusations has been profound," according to the report.
Mount Carmel Health System, part of Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, and its executives used press releases and other public statements to accuse Dr. Husel of prescribing fatal doses of painkillers, according to the defamation lawsuit.
"This is no ordinary case of defamation," Dr. Husel's lawyers wrote in the complaint. "It would not be an exaggeration to state that Dr. Husel has suffered perhaps the most egregious case of defamation in Ohio's recent history."
The lawyers claim Dr. Husel and his family are "emotionally and financially decimated" by the false accusations. The lawsuit seeks financial damages.
Regarding the lawsuit, Mount Carmel Health System issued the following statement to The Columbus Dispatch:
"Allegations such as these are unfounded. We completed an extensive review of patient care provided by Dr. William Husel and stand by our decisions. Mount Carmel's focus continues to be on caring for our patients."
Access the full article from The Columbus Dispatch here.
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