The Ohio doctor accused of overprescribing fentanyl to his critically ill patients and hastening their deaths was found not guilty of 14 counts of murder on Wednesday.
Highlights
- William Husel was accused of overprescribing fentanyl to dying patients in the intensive care unit from 2015 to 2018.
- He was indicted on 25 counts of murder, though 11 of those counts were dismissed pretrial.
- Husel’s former colleagues testified that he was a wonderful doctor who was hardworking, fought to save people’s lives.
- The defense argued prosecutors had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the doses actually hastened the patients’ deaths or that Husel intentionally intended to kill the patients.
- The drug is an opioid used to treat patients with chronic severe pain or severe pain after surgery, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)