Dr. William Husel murder trial: Livestream and updates Feb. 24, 2022

The trial of Dr. William Husel is being livestreamed each day on NBC4i.com and the NBC4 app. 4:55 p.m. update: Testimony is over for the day. Court is expected to resume at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Testimony in the murder trial of a former Mount Carmel doctor has concluded Thursday. Two more former Mount Carmel West pharmacists testified.

Dr. William Husel, 46, is facing murder charges in the deaths of 14 patients under his care at the former Mount Carmel West hospital from 2015 to 2018. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Sign up for breaking news email alerts from NBC4

Once the judge’s and attorneys’ inquires concluded, Dr. Randal Miles was called by the prosecution. Miles was the Mount Carmel West pharmacy manager from 2015-2018.

Miles said former Mount Carmel pharmacist Talon Schroyer who testified most of the day Wednesday and Thursday morning was a direct report to him during his time there. Miles stated Schroyer came to him with concerns over the amount of fentanyl Husel prescribed to a patient while he was on duty. Miles said he directed Schroyer to make a “voice report” (a Mount Carmel internal note system about colleagues) about his concerns. Miles stated that Schroyer was on his way out the door for the weekend, so he made the voice report for him.

Thursday morning, Mount Carmel Grove City clinical staff pharmacist Gregory Dresbach took the stand. Answering prosecution’s question, Dresbach talked about reviewing, approving or rejecting orders when they worked together at the now-closed Mount Carmel West. He explained the charts of several patients. He said on one occasion, he rejected an order for fentanyl from Husel and placed a flag across the system.

Dresbach said that on another occasion that he rejected an order for fentanyl from Husel, this order later switched from rejected to competed status. Dresbach said this meant that medication had been given and completed without his authorization.

After this incident, Dresbach said he sent an email to the Operations Manager Randy Miles addressing his concerns about the override of his orders.

On Wednesday, attorneys for both sides questioned former Mount Carmel pharmacist Talon Schroyer, who was terminated from Mount Carmel Health System in July 2019.

Schroyer, who worked the night shift at Mount Carmel from 2017 to 2019, faces accusations of approving orders for potentially fatal doses of fentanyl for Husel’s patients, according to several wrongful death lawsuits filed by family members of patients who died under Husel’s care.

Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor David Zeyen questioned Schroyer about his role at the hospital, various medical devices and procedures, and specific incidents where he approved Husel’s medication orders.

Schroyer, tasked with verifying medication orders submitted by Mount Carmel doctors, said that when he first saw the 1,000 microgram-order of fentanyl requested for victim Janet Kavanaugh, a 79-year-old who died in December 2017, the dose seemed “a little unusual.”

He said he consulted with fellow pharmacist Greg Dresbach, who said although Schroyer “was not crazy” for thinking the fentanyl dose was unusual, it wasn’t an unusual order from Husel.

Here are some of the individuals who may appear during the proceedings:

Judge