3 lawsuits filed over pain meds given to near-death patients

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

An Ohio man said Wednesday he was stunned to learn of allegations that his wife’s hospital death last year was caused by a doctor’s order for a fatal dose of pain medication.

David Austin said he called an ambulance in September after his wife, Bonnie Austin, had trouble breathing. A doctor told him she was brain dead after she suffered cardiac arrest.

Austin felt “like somebody kicked me in the chest” when he was told this month of the alleged circumstances of the death of his wife of 36 years.

At least three wrongful-death lawsuits have now been filed against Dr. William Husel, the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System and nurses and pharmacists employed by the system.

The lawsuits accused the doctor of ordering that near-death hospital patients get potentially fatal doses of pain medicine without their families’ knowledge.

Mount Carmel announced this week that the intensive-care doctor ordered pain medicine for at least 27 patients in dosages significantly bigger than necessary to provide comfort for them after their families asked that lifesaving measures be stopped.

Mount Carmel publicly apologized and said it has fired Husel, reported findings of its internal investigation to authorities and removed 20 employees from patient care pending further review.