Some patients at Columbus, Ohio-based Mount Carmel Health System believed to have been given potentially fatal painkiller doses may also have been inappropriately deemed brain dead before getting the medication, attorneys who have filed lawsuits in the matter said, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
In several cases, William Husel MD, prescribed excessive doses of fentanyl shortly after telling family members their loved one was brain dead, attorneys and families told The Dispatch.
The health system accused Dr. Husel of ordering excessive doses of pain medications for 34 intensive-care patients. The doses were at fatal levels for 28 of the patients.
Mount Carmel fired the physician in December, his medical license has been suspended, and authorities are investigating.
Attorney Gerald Leeseberg cited guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology for determining brain death. A news release from Mr. Leeseberg's firm said "virtually none ... were complied with, completed and/or documented by Dr. Husel before advising family members that their loved ones were 'brain dead.'"
Mount Carmel's brain death policy includes several steps that physicians must follow before declaring a patient legally brain dead, a health system spokesperson told The Dispatch. Among them are a series of examinations, electroencephalography tests and cerebral flow studies that include various radiology imaging tests, she said.
Attorney Richard Blake, who is representing Dr. Husel in the criminal investigation, told The Dispatch he is reviewing records and working with the prosecutor's office. He said it would be inappropriate to comment further.