Doctor Charged With 25 Counts Of Murder

(ONN) – A doctor in Columbus has been indicted on 25 counts of murder after allegedly ordering excessive doses of painkillers for patients who died.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien says Dr. William Husel ordered the excessive amounts of drugs at two hospitals in Columbus from 2015 to 2018.

Prosecutors say 35 patients are believed to have been given large doses of fentanyl.

All but one of the patients were in the intensive care unit at Mount Carmel West Hospital in Columbus.

Husel turned himself in to police on Wednesday morning.

He pleaded not guilty and his bond was set at $1 million at his arraignment in the afternoon.

The Columbus health system where Dr. Husel once worked is responding to his indictment.

Mount Carmel Health System released a statement that says, in part, that it notified appropriate authorities once it discovered the actions of Dr. Husel.

The hospital says it “has made and will continue to implement meaningful changes throughout our system to ensure events like these never happen again.”

The families of patients who died due to the alleged intentional overdoses by Dr. Husel say his former employer, Mount Carmel, took too long to act.