Attorneys identify 3 additional patients who were allegedly killed by Mt. Carmel doctor

Attorneys identified three additional patients they said died at Mount Carmel West after being given lethal doses of fentanyl.

On Friday, attorneys named 75-year-old Emma L. Bogan, 55-year-old Timothy Fitzpatrick, and 63-year-old Beverlee Schirtzinger as patients who died at the hospital after allegedly being prescribed fentanyl by former Dr. William Husel.

Gordon Evans is representing Bogan’s family.

“(She was) the heart of the family,” said Evans with Donahey, Defossez & Evans, “she was 75-years-old. She was young. They expected her to come back from this rehabilitation center. They expected her to be back with the family. They get a call before they can even get to the hospital, she’s gone, she’s taken from them, and now we know she was truly taken from them.”

He said she was at a rehabilitation center for a colostomy reversal, but had to be taken to Mount Carmel West for complications.

Evans said she died on February 11, 2015, before her family got to the hospital, and were told she died of septic shock.

But now, years later, Evans said the family got a call from the hospital. He said she got a lethal dose of fentanyl administered by Dr. Husel.

“At the end of the grieving process finally, and then you’re told, by the way, your mother for all intents and purposes was killed by one of our hospital employees, now they are going through it again, it’s tragic,” he said.

Attorneys at Leeseberg & Valentine said they are planning to file more wrongful death suits, identifying two others patients Friday.

They claim Tim Fitzpatrick died at Mount Carmel on October 9th, 2017 after getting a dose of fentanyl.

Then, just hours later, they said Beverlee Schirtzinger got a dose of fentanyl and another medication, dying a week before her 64th birthday.

Evans expects to file the suit for Bogan’s family soon and more.

“We currently have four cases in the firm, two of which the hospital has admitted to the wrongful administration of fentanyl,” he said, “two others where we strongly believe there was wrongful administration of fentanyl and a shockingly similar fact pattern, and I anticipate we are going to get a lot more.”

ABC6/FOX28 learned Columbus Police and the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office began investigating in early December, but aren’t saying much else.

No criminal charges have been filed against Husel.

Husel’s legal team has so far declined to comment.

Mount Carmel sent this statement:

Based on what this doctor did to these near-death patients, we understand that some of these families may be considering legal action. We’ve apologized to these families, we’ve apologized publicly, and we’re continuing to cooperate with law enforcement and other authorities. We’re also working to build additional safeguards so that a tragedy like this never happens again.

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