Dr. William Husel murder trial: livestream and updates Feb. 25, 2022

The trial of Dr. William Husel is being livestreamed each day on NBC4i.com and the NBC4 app. 4:30 p.m. update: Proceedings have ended for the day. The trial is expected to start again Monday at 9 a.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Defense and prosecuting attorneys fired a barrage of questions at several witnesses who took the stand in the first week of the murder trial of a former Mount Carmel physician.

Several pharmacists, an acute care physician and a patient safety risk management nurse offered an inside look at the events that unfolded at Mount Carmel West where Dr. William Husel allegedly ordered potentially fatal doses of fentanyl to terminally ill patients.

Husel, 46, is facing murder charges in the deaths of 14 patients from 2015 to ’18 who were under his care at the former Mount Carmel West hospital, where he was an ICU doctor. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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Dr. Saad Hagras, an acute care physician, was the first witness Friday. Hagras, now at Mount Carmel Grove City, treated some of the same ICU patients as Husel and described his care of those patients. He was asked what he knew about how drugs he ordered were retrieved and administered, and he also described how doses of certain medications were given to patients.

Friday afternoon, Randal Miles, Mount Carmel West’s pharmacy manager from 2015 to 2018, was back on the stand answering questions from the defense about his role in the pharmacy’s role in providing prescriptions to ICU patients.

Following Miles’ testimony, the prosecution called Kathryn Barga to the witness stand. Barga stated she is a patient safety risk management nurse at Mount Carmel who reviews “voice reports.” The term voice report was introduced to the jury yesterday when Miles said he filed one over a concern one of the pharmacists he managed voiced about doses of fentanyl Husel gave a patient.

Assistant prosecutor Taylor Mick then questioned Barga about multiple voice reports filed concerning Husel’s dosing.

On Thursday, proceedings were paused for about two hours while Judge Michael Holbrook made inquiries about a juror potentially talking about the case while on break, which is prohibited.

Jurors heard testimony from Randal Miles, Mount Carmel West’s pharmacy manager from 2015 to 2018, who said an earlier witness, former Mount Carmel pharmacist Talon Schroyer, reported to him. After Schroyer came to Miles with concerns over the amount of fentanyl Husel had prescribed to a patient, Miles said he reported it.

Also testifying was Mount Carmel clinical staff pharmacist Gregory Dresbach, who described reviewing, approving or rejecting orders. He said he rejected two orders of fentanyl submitted by Husel — one of which he said was later switched from rejected to competed status, meaning the medication had been given without his authorization. After the incident, Dresbach said he emailed Miles his concerns.

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

Judge