COLUMBUS, Ohio — The sixth day of the Dr. William Husel murder trial ended with a long day of medical expert witnesses, one of whom was a former colleague of Husel.
Dr. Gina Moody is a pulmonary and critical care physician at Mount Carmel.
Moody was asked about giving care to those nearing the end of life and how she primarily used morphine to ease pain in patients.
Dr. Husel is accused of ordering fatal doses of fentanyl to 14 patients under his care. Prosecutors alleged Husel’s dosings were 6 to 20 times higher than Mount Carmel’s recommended dose of morphine.
Moody described complications that would require morphine or other opioids before a breathing tube was removed. She also described circumstances that would require her to override a machine that records and dispenses medications safely.
Moody testified she has never ordered a nurse to override the machine for palliative extubation, which is when a breathing tube is being removed from someone. She said she has never made the decision to override the machine because it was not an emergency.
Meanwhile, Husel’s defense presented evidence that showed the machines were often overridden by doctors and nurses as much as 100 times a day.
Husel has pleaded not guilty to the 14 murder charges.
You can watch day six of the trial below.
DAY 5 RECAP
During proceedings Monday, jurors heard from Critical Care Physician Dr. Wesley Ely with Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. Ely said, in his medical opinion, the fentanyl and sedative doses ordered by Husel likely killed his patients.
According to Ely, the as many as 2,000-microgram doses Husel is accused of ordering went beyond what was medically necessary.
“I would believe the intent would be to stop the breathing and hasten death. Cause death,” said Ely.
During cross-examination, Husel’s attorney Diane Menashe asked why Husel would perform 14 life-saving measures for one of his patients if his intent was to accelerate their deaths, to which Ely responded that there was nothing in the patient’s clinical study that would require 1,000 micrograms of fentanyl.
Last month, prosecutors dismissed 11 of the murder counts against Husel. Of the 14 that remain, 11 involve patients who got 1,000 micrograms or more.
You can watch Tuesday’s briefing in the player above.