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Mount Carmel says doctor gave 27 near-death patients potentially fatal doses of pain medication
Columbus Dispatch ^ | January 15, 2019 | JoAnne Viviano

Posted on 01/15/2019 2:29:18 PM PST by billorites

Mount Carmel Health System says one of its intensive-care doctors gave "significantly excessive and potentially fatal" doses of pain medication to at least 27 near-death patients between 2015 and 2018.

Dr. William Husel, who had worked for the system since 2013, has been fired, and details of an internal investigation by Mount Carmel have been turned over to authorities, the health system's top executive said in a statement Monday.

The statement was released after a lawsuit was filed earlier in the day in Franklin County Common Pleas Court against the health system, the doctor, a pharmacist and a nurse in the 2017 death of a 79-year-old Grove City woman who was allegedly administered a fatal dose of the powerful opioid fentanyl at Mount Carmel West hospital.

The families of all patients involved had requested that lifesaving measures be stopped, but the amount of painkiller prescribed was beyond what was needed to provide comfort, said Ed Lamb, president and CEO of the Columbus-based health system.

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"The actions instigated by this doctor were unacceptable and inconsistent with the values and practices of Mount Carmel, regardless of the reasons the actions were taken," the statement said. "We take responsibility for the fact that the processes in place were not sufficient to prevent these actions from happening.

"We’re doing everything to understand how this happened and what we need to do to ensure it never happens again."

Along with Husel's firing, 20 employees have been placed on administrative leave, among them pharmacists who were involved with related patient care, and nurses who administered the medication, Mount Carmel executives said. The health system said only one doctor was involved.

The lawsuit names the health system; Husel, 43, of Liberty Township outside Dublin; pharmacist Talon Schroyer, 31, of the Marysville area; and nurse Tyler Rudman, 32, of Grove City.

Neither Husel nor Rudman could be reached for comment Monday by The Dispatch. Schroyer declined to comment when contacted.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said Monday night in a statement that Mount Carmel and Trinity Health systems contacted his office and other authorities in December about "conduct by a medical employee" and an investigation is being conducted.

"This office met with doctors, executives and attorneys for the hospital and been in contact with other law enforcement and state regulatory agencies. Mt. Carmel and Trinity Health systems have been fully cooperative and responsive to lawful requests for additional information and documents," O'Brien said, adding his office cannot answer questions until the investigation is completed.

Attorney Gerald Leeseberg filed the lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Janet Kavanaugh, who had been transferred to the hospital from an assisted-care center with serious health issues.

"She was an old woman with some health issues. That's really not in dispute," Leeseberg said. "The problem is, somebody or some people in the medical field appear to have made a unilateral decision about terminating her life or hastening her death."

Leeseberg, a partner in a Columbus law firm, said he has talked with families of other patients, and there were differing circumstances. He said additional lawsuits will be filed.

Executives of the health system said its internal investigation determined that the series of incidents began in 2015, and the latest was in November 2018. All involved patients who died, and all but one of them received care at Mount Carmel West in Franklinton; the exception was a patient at Mount Carmel St. Ann's in Westerville.

Lamb said executives were alerted to Husel's alleged misdoings by an employee in October 2018. Lamb said he suspects the reporting stemmed from a "zero harm" initiative that began 18 months ago and helped change culture to make people more comfortable about speaking out.

Changes made in response to the Husel investigation include increased education on standards and best practices regarding end-of-life care, an additional protocol to set maximum appropriate painkiller doses in the electronic medical-record system, and required approval from clinical leadership if there is any deviation, said Dan Roth, executive vice president and chief clinical officer for Trinity Health, a Catholic health-care system of which Mount Carmel is a member.

The suit says Kavanaugh was given 1,000 micrograms of fentanyl through an IV on Dec. 11, 2017, and died within 18 minutes. The opioid is about 100 times stronger than morphine.

Dr. Steven Bird, a Massachusetts doctor certified in emergency medicine and toxicology, filed an affidavit with the lawsuit stating that the amount of fentanyl given to Kavanaugh was inappropriate and excessive, according to Leeseberg.

The suit accuses all defendants of battery, medical negligence, negligence, wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It also accuses Mount Carmel of negligence in supervision and in allowing Husel to practice in the health system. The suit seeks monetary punitive damages.

The health system had planned to announce the investigation publicly on Wednesday after contacting families and informing employees.

Kavanaugh's daughter had been contacted in December and told that her mother had been given an excessive dose of fentanyl, according to the lawsuit, and she was contacted again on Monday and told that other patients were involved in incidents.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: killing; mercy; mercykilling
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1 posted on 01/15/2019 2:29:18 PM PST by billorites
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To: billorites

fl


2 posted on 01/15/2019 2:40:44 PM PST by maine-iac7 ( Christian is as Christian does mt-h)
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To: billorites; ExTexasRedhead

Just read that the THIRD leading cause of death, behind Heart Attacks and Cancer, is HOSPITALIZATION! Those who can avoid medical “care” today are blessed. You may end up living longer without it, than with it.


3 posted on 01/15/2019 2:43:44 PM PST by vette6387
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To: billorites

Hard to make a judgement on this. Maybe these patients were beyond help. Innocent until proven guilty.


4 posted on 01/15/2019 2:44:16 PM PST by HighSierra5
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To: HighSierra5

Even though the patient is terminally ill. You shouldn’t help them go before their time!


5 posted on 01/15/2019 3:00:57 PM PST by tallyhoe
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To: tallyhoe

I’m not saying he’s innocent. Just respect the process.


6 posted on 01/15/2019 3:03:22 PM PST by HighSierra5
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To: tallyhoe

It depends on the stage they are in.

If they are beyond help and certain to die in a few days, it’s just inhumane to keep them alive. And yes, there are medical situations like this.

I’m talking about people dying of cancer and other diseases where the outcome is irrefutable and all they are doing is suffering discomfort and the family going through hell standing by for the event to take place.

This can linger on for a while, and family members are forced to be there 24/7 until it happens.

If they move the process forward, I do not think Good looks down on this in anger.


7 posted on 01/15/2019 3:07:56 PM PST by DoughtyOne (01/26/18 DJIA 30 stocks $26,616.71 48.794% > open 11/07/16 $215.71 from 50% increase in 1.2183 yrs)
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To: billorites

Paging Dr. Kevorkian.


8 posted on 01/15/2019 3:26:44 PM PST by Steely Tom ([Seth Rich] == [the Democrat's John Dean])
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To: vette6387; rodguy911; LUV W; left that other site; bevperl; seekthetruth; null and void; ...

Huge FYI on pharmaceuticals which also wreck havoc on the American people!

Why are FDA Inspections So Ineffective and Disappointing?

Are you losing faith in the FDA? Kaiser Health News reports on a scandal about FDA inspections and tainted medicine. How long has this been happening?

https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2019/01/14/why-are-fda-inspections-so-ineffective-and-disappointing/?utm_source=The+People%27s+Pharmacy+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1948c5d5ac-MC_D_2019-01-15%26subscriber%3D1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7300006d3c-1948c5d5ac-220081977&goal=0_7300006d3c-1948c5d5ac-220081977&mc_cid=1948c5d5ac&mc_eid=0ec54f7dcb

We have long worried about foreign drug manufacturing plants. That’s because the FDA has limited ability to inspect these facilities and detect problems that could lead to drug contamination. The agency must alert foreign drug makers well in advance of an inspection, blunting the effectiveness of this approach.

The KHN report suggests that even in the US, where FDA inspectors show up unannounced, inspections may not find all the problems that they should. Within a year of passing inspection, 65 drug manufacturing facilities had to recall almost 300 products.

Over the last decade or so we have been tracking FDA inspections. What we discovered is troubling to say the least. It is also amazing how fast these scandals disappear without a trace.

We do not understand why health professionals, patients and politicians have lost their sense of outrage. Too many people, it seems, have the attention span of gnats. Shortly after a story breaks, everyone loses interest. It’s on to the next news cycle and business as usual.

http://fortune.com/2013/05/15/dirty-medicine/

https://khn.org/news/how-tainted-drugs-reach-market-make-patients-sicker/

“…Since the start of 2013, pharmaceutical companies based in the U.S. or abroad have recalled about 8,000 medicines, comprising billions of tablets, bottles and vials that have entered the U.S. drug supply and made their way to patients’ medicine cabinets, hospital supply closets and IV drips, a Kaiser Health News investigation shows. The recalls represent a fraction of the medicines shipped each year. But the flawed products contained everything from dangerous bacteria or tiny glass particles to mold — or too much or too little of the drug’s active ingredient.

Over the same period, 65 drug-making facilities recalled nearly 300 products within 12 months of passing a Food and Drug Administration inspection — as was the case with the stool softener, according to a KHN analysis of recall notices and inspection records kept by the FDA…”


9 posted on 01/15/2019 3:38:51 PM PST by ExTexasRedhead
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To: billorites

This goes on all the time. I don’t know the specific dosages etc.. but from what I understand, hospitals and hospices easing the process of death not just by alleviating pain but also by actually speeding it up by high dosages of painkillers (and by withholding food, water and antibiotics) is nearly universal. And it goes on in “Catholic” hospitals despite the withholding of those essentials being clearly contrary to Catholic teaching.


10 posted on 01/15/2019 4:00:54 PM PST by Stingray51
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To: Stingray51

I have never seen an excessive dose given and would not tolerate it if it was. Food and water are always available but patients may not be able to take much in due to their condition drugs given to relieve pain and anxiety are a blessing but a lethal dose just for the sake of a lethal dose is a step too far.


11 posted on 01/15/2019 4:05:50 PM PST by Mom MD ( .)
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To: billorites

I suspect all geriatric specialists do this. It’s called palliative sedation. If a patient is near death and in pain, keep giving them more pain killer until it relieves their pain.


12 posted on 01/15/2019 4:06:14 PM PST by Paal Gulli
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To: HighSierra5

I cannot understand your thinking. So it’s okay for a doctor to give a lethal dose and it all depends on his personal judgment? As long as it’s a doctor we should respect his decision?


13 posted on 01/15/2019 4:10:14 PM PST by punknpuss
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To: billorites

I have mixed feelings about this. Life is sacred but it is also inhumane to leave the dying to suffer in pain.


14 posted on 01/15/2019 4:17:29 PM PST by captain_dave
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To: billorites
When medical personnel take all reasonable,responsible measures to ensure that seriously ill patients are pain free that is excellent...very,very admirable.

But this sounds very much like murder.

15 posted on 01/15/2019 4:20:59 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Mitt Romney: Bringing Massachusetts Values To The Great State Of Utah.)
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To: captain_dave

See Post #15


16 posted on 01/15/2019 4:21:40 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Mitt Romney: Bringing Massachusetts Values To The Great State Of Utah.)
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To: Mom MD

That’s great. Maybe “nearly universal” was overstating it. As a non-medical person, my experience is only anecdotal, from what I’ve seen personally and heard from friends.


17 posted on 01/15/2019 4:35:29 PM PST by Stingray51
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To: DoughtyOne

It depends on the stage they are in.

If they are beyond help and certain to die in a few days, it’s just inhumane to keep them alive. And yes, there are medical situations like this.

Do you want some doctor on his own determining who should die and when?


18 posted on 01/16/2019 12:23:27 PM PST by tallyhoe
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To: vette6387

There is a big difference between dying from being exposed to an infection in a hospital and intentionally being fed enough pain killers to stop your heart because some doctor has decided its time for you to die.

And lets not even get into the fact most people end up in a hospital when they are gravely ill and hence, more likely to die even before they get there... So you are going to obviously have more people die in hospitals than in other places.

Correlation is not causation.


19 posted on 01/16/2019 12:32:36 PM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: tallyhoe

No. In consultation with family in the last hours, yes.


20 posted on 01/16/2019 2:12:59 PM PST by DoughtyOne (01/26/18 DJIA 30 stocks $26,616.71 48.794% > open 11/07/16 $215.71 from 50% increase in 1.2183 yrs)
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