The Ohio Board of Nursing suspended the licenses of two nurses in connection to 2018 patient deaths at Columbus, Ohio-based Mount Carmel Health System, reports CBS affiliate WBNS.
Wesley Black, RN, and Jordan Blair, RN — who are no longer employed by the system — will have their licenses suspended for one year. Once the suspension period ends, Mr. Black and Mr. Blair will be on probation for three and two years, respectively, and have temporary practice restrictions, according to a press release from the Ohio Board of Nursing.
Both nurses cared for some of the 35 Mount Carmel patients who died after receiving excessive doses of painkillers between 2015 and 2018. William Husel, DO, a former intensive care physician at Mount Carmel, has been charged with 25 counts of murder in connection to the patient deaths.
The state nursing board cited concerns that Mr. Blair and Mr. Black failed to question the high painkiller doses. During the hearing, both men said many nurses trusted Dr. Husel due to his training and anesthesia expertise. Mr. Blair also said that Mount Carmel nurses were "taught to follow the attending physician's orders," according to WBNS.
Twenty-two other nurses formerly employed by Mount Carmel are set to have disciplinary hearings with the Ohio nursing board between this July and March 2021. One nurse already has surrendered her license, the board said.