Ex-Ohio doctor acquitted of 14 overdose deaths files new lawsuit against Mt. Carmel owner
William Husel, the former Mount Carmel Health doctor who was acquitted of 14 murder charges in connection with fatal overdoses of patients under his care, has filed a new lawsuit against the hospital system's parent company.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Trinity Health, the Michigan-based parent company of Mount Carmel Health, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit.
Husel had been found not guilty of all charges against him in 2022 by a Franklin County Common Pleas Court jury. He previously filed a lawsuit, also accusing Trinity Health of malicious prosecution, in 2023. However, that lawsuit was thrown out in March after a federal judge found Husel had not proven that police and Franklin County prosecutors lacked evidence to investigate and charge him during their investigation.
Alleges malicious prosecution: Husel files $20M lawsuit against Mount Carmel's parent health system
On Tuesday, Husel filed another civil lawsuit against Trinity Health, again accusing the parent company of Mount Carmel of malicious prosecution and seeking no less than $20 million in damages.
The new lawsuit accuses Trinity, in particular Dr. Daniel Roth, the health system's chief clinical officer, of presenting knowingly false information to the Franklin County grand jury that indicted Husel. The lawsuit also accuses Trinity of "actively" seeking Husel's indictment and criminal prosecution as a scapegoat to distract from the hospital's failings.
Could be refiled: Judge dismisses ex-Mount Carmel Dr. William Husel's malicious prosecution lawsuit
Grand jury proceedings are handled in secret and the witnesses who testify and the testimony they give are not typically public.
Since his acquittal, Husel has been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder, the lawsuit says, impacting Husel's ability to "write, eat, dress and conduct many of the ordinary activities of life without a struggle."
Husel has also developed physical symptoms not related to any other medical condition, the lawsuit says, including a limp and a loss of fine motor skills.
The criminal case against Husel and the subsequent medical impacts have prevented Husel from obtaining employment since his acquittal, the lawsuit says.
Husel voluntarily surrendered his Ohio medical license in 2022, which was permanently revoked by the State Medical Board of Ohio.
Husel was initially charged with murder in connection with the deaths of 25 patients between 2015 and 2018. Prosecutors later reduced to 14 murder counts when they took the case to trial.
The deaths occurred in patients who were in the intensive care unit and were "actively dying," Husel's lawyers said at trial.
Husel prescribed doses of fentanyl that were deemed by the prosecution's medical expert to be excessive. The dosages were comfort care and provided easier deaths to the patients, Husel's attorneys argued.
Mount Carmel has settled multiple civil lawsuits brought by the families of patients.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: William Husel files new lawsuit against Mount Carmel parent company
