COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by former Mount Carmel doctor William Husel against the health system’s owner accusing it of malicious prosecution.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division, alleged that Trinity Health Corporation actively sought Husel’s indictment and prosecution. The allegations followed an investigation by the company into the former doctor’s practices of prescribing opioid and benzodiazepine doses that were higher than his peers’ practices.
The lawsuit also accused Trinity Health of instituting “a public outreach campaign designed to lead to his indictment and prosecution.”
The company filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that there was a lack of evidence.
On Thursday, the court found that Husel could not prove that probable cause existed for his prosecution — that the judge said was a “necessary element to his claim.”
Husel was accused of ordering painkillers for patients in the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System. He was indicted in cases that involved the use of at least 500 micrograms of the powerful painkiller fentanyl.
Prosecutors in that case had said ordering such dosages for a nonsurgical situation indicated an intent to end lives. Husel’s attorneys argued he was providing comfort care for dying patients, not trying to kill them.
Husel was fired in late 2018 from Mount Carmel West Hospital. He later was indicted on 25 murder counts. Eleven of those counts were dismissed by county prosecutors in January 2022.
A jury found Husel not guilty of 14 counts of murder in April 2022.
Husel surrendered his medical license following the verdict. The state medical board permanently revoked it, barring him from being able to practice medicine in Ohio.