Opening statements made in Ohio doctor’s defamation trial against Mount Carmel

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — After two days of jury selection, opening statements were made in the trial between William Husel, a former physician acquitted of 14 murder charges in 2022, and the Mount Carmel Health System.

Wednesday morning started with alternate jurors being selected before Husel's attorney, Jose Baez, began opening statements just before 1:30 p.m. Baez is a Florida-based attorney who also represented Husel during his 2022 murder trial.

"This man has had to endure the unbearable," Baez said. More than three years after being found not guilty of murder, Husel sued the Mount Carmel Health System, former Mount Carmel CEO and president Edward Lamb, and Mount Carmel’s parent company Trinity Health Corporation for defamation.

Baez championed Husel's background as an award-winning doctor before diving into his claim of how Trinity Health used public relations tactics to sway a media campaign against him. Among a large amount of examples shown to the jury, Baez showed an email that gave employees "kudos" for influencing local newspaper coverage against Husel.

From 2015 to 2018, critically ill patients under Husel’s care died from a potentially excessive amount of painkillers. In 2019, Husel faced 14 murder charges in relation to his patients’ deaths. A jury ultimately found him not guilty in 2022 after a months-long trial. Husel surrendered his medical license in the aftermath of his trial.

Husel filed multiple new civil lawsuits which included a 2023 suit for $20 million against Mount Carmel in which Husel’s attorneys claim “malicious prosecution” against him.

This lawsuit was dismissed in March of 2024 before he filed a new suit a month later, which cited public statements from the defendants calling him responsible for patient deaths and attempts to influence local media.

Defense attorney Powell Miller from Michigan firm Miller Law claimed Mount Carmel did not want to go public with the allegations against Husel and said that Husel needs to prove more than just negative statements against him in order to rule it defamation. He also pointed to Lamb's video responses that did not directly name Husel.

He said any statements made did not accuse Husel of any intent to harm patients.

"Dr. Husel cannot hold us responsible for any of his potential damages," Miller said. "We never called him a criminal or a killer."

Witness testimony is expected to begin Thursday morning.