Doctor Kills 34 Patients - Dr. William Husel 

I’m a RN. The MD doesn’t administer the meds. That’s done by the nurse. The pharmacist has to “approve” most all medications. Then there are protocols established by the hospital that automatically pop up to stop foolish things like this ever happening. Something isn’t coming out here. There has to be more to this.

My son died recently, he had no chance of survival and was in pain and scared. They gave him large amounts of pain medication and I’m sure they hastened his death. It still was traumatic and long. I also was an ICU nurse, and I saw what this doctor did frequently, but it was done out of mercy, not malice. Dr. Hussel was voted Dr of the year twice. I can tell you that would not have happened if he would not have been seen as caring and compassionate. In everything I’ve seen, the outcome of death was inevitable. He made their journey easier. If I could have made my sons journey easier and faster, I would have. I am very sad I lost my son but what I suffer the most grief about is what he had to go through.

if I were actively dying, I would want to be as high as humanly possible. NO ONE wants to suffer. NO ONE wants a hard death. Not a single person, so why then do we, by law, force so many to die this way? If I am at the end of my rope and the only thing I have to look forward to is the pain before I die, I would like to have the option of not having to suffer. Honestly, I think if we all really sat down and thought about it, you'd come to the same conclusion.

Thanks for bringing up pharmacy. I'm a pharmacist and I can't imagine sending doses that high to patients. Furthermore, if he's ordering 20 vials, we would recognize an uptick in fentanyl usage and that alone would catch it. In such a scenario, if one pharmacist didn't catch it still would not take 34 patients for us to notice.

He was found not guilty. Because he didn’t do anything wrong,he was helping people not feel pain when their families made the decision to take them off life support.

I sat with my mother for three and a half weeks while she was in a medically induced coma following a horrific car accident. Four times care teams talked to me about whether or not my mother should be kept alive, as she was 86 and very broken. I saw her facial features react when she was repositioned or I talked to her. Her level of sedation was lifted from time to time for evaluation. I knew she had a powerful will to live and persisted. Eventually, she moved from Intensive care to Acute care to Skilled care and then home. Seven normal, productive years later, she passed away. If a doctor decided, while she was in the ICU that she "needed" 100 times the dosage of sedation, it would not only have robbed her of those additional years, it would have been cold blooded murder.

When a family member authorizes and attends a palliative extubation , trust me on this, there is no such thing as excessive sedation. Been there, done that.

Hey I just came across this video, and I had to comment because I live in Ohio and while this trail was going on, I was completely obsessed and watched the entire trial from start to finish. I am also an ICU RN. I had never heard of giving such large doses of fentanyl and my immediate impression was “this doctor is a crazy serial killer” HOWEVER - after watching the trial, it is clear that he was railroaded by the hospital, and I fully believe Dr. Husel was a good doctor with the best intentions, and with no intentions of hastening death. His expertise was in palliative medicine, and he felt those doses, based on his experience, knowledge, and literature, were appropriate. The best video to watch is the defenses opening statement, bc they really lay out how this situation all came to be. It’s shocking. The hospital was trying to cover up so much. .. I would really encourage anyone whose interested in this trial to watch the defenses Full opening statement

The law is broken. If I have no chance of survival, give me ten grams of fentanyl. You'd never let that level of suffering happen to a pet, who can’t tell you how they feel, so why would you let it happen to a human being who is even perhaps begging for mercy.

34 deaths on an ICU doctor's watch isn't surprising. ICU patients die much more frequently than other patients......that's why it's called critical care. On the other hand, 2000mcg of Fentanyl is such a huge red flag to any healthcare professional who has ever handled the drug. As a RN of nearly 11 years, 7 of which in the ICU, and having given hundreds of doses of Fentanyl, there's absolutely no way I would have ever pushed 2000mcg. Period. I would have refused, barring some extremely rare condition where the patient was incredibly tolerant of opioids, in which case there would have been a precedent and history of them receiving ridiculously huge doses. What's equally surprising is that any pharmacist would approve it. As another commenter said, there's more to this story that we're not getting here.

Hmm as a former palliative nurse who cared for extubated patients, I am surprised that there were lawsuits at all. There are studies that indicate inadequately treated pain at end of life shortens lifespan, and if families understood the meaning of palliative extubation, then death should come as no shock at all. Makes me wonder what else is going on here… 🧐 some of those doses sound excessive but without knowing that medical history of each individual, how could we possibly say? Tolerance is built over time.

I’ve seen patients that are not brain dead, have awareness of everything that’s going on but no longer have control of their bodily functions, motor skills, and have to be fed with an NG tube. This to me is more terrifying than brain death. My wife knows to put me out of my misery if something like this were to happen to me. It’s an important discussion to have with your closest loved ones.

I am all for medically assisted death and many of the Doctors I have worked with agree in private but will not say it aloud. It puzzles me that we humans will euthanize a dog, cat ,horse... to alleviate suffering but not a human being; how humane is that. My first code as a licensed nurse was a 95 yo woman with cancer, bilateral amputee, bilateral mastectomy and every other itis you can think of; yet the family had her as a full code. The whole team is in full ACLS mode the physician walks in takes over calling the code and to our relief says "slow CPR" this was for documentation purposes only. We all knew it was the wrong thing to do (ACLS that is) but we had no choice . I cried afterwards and asked for forgiveness. At what point is enough enough?? How selfish we are hanging on to loved ones whose life is lying in bed connected to machines being pumped full of toxic chemicals. I know it is very personal and hard to let go but were is the humane in humanity. I hope all charges are dropped.

As an ICU nurse, I would definitely question excessive doses of any medication and report to my Supervisor in writing as well as in person.

Bless this doctor for doing enough to provide palliative care.

Watching my grandfather slowly die after they removed him from life support and offered "comfort care" via a morphine drip was traumatic. I honestly wish he would have had this doctor... a lot of the commenters on this stating how awful this was have probably never lived the experience as a family member....

Coming from an ICU doctor: The underlying concept here is the double effect. The drug is given to alleviate suffering, but we know it has an unintended second effect of hastening their death by slowing or stopping their breathing. The reason for the drug is the former, but we accept that the latter outcome may also happen. The only criticism I would give to this doctor is that the doses given were probably beyond what was necessary to alleviate suffering. While I imagine he had concerns about undertreating and leaving a dying patient in pain, the way to protect against this is instead to frequently readminister the drug, rather than giving a very large dose up front. So if you administer 100 mcg of fentanyl and the patient is still suffering, you can give an additional 100mcg in 5 minutes, and continue every 5-10 minutes until they appear comfortable. Ultimately it is splitting hairs and without knowing more details of the particular cases where he gave 2000 mcg of fentanyl, I think this doctor was just trying to ensure his patients had a peaceful death, and there is nothing wrong with that.

7 months ago my brother was dying. I received a phone call early morning from the ICU doctor in regards to making a final decision for my brother. Did he want me to keep pushing and attempting to revive my brother (who had an ejection fraction of 15%) or did he want me to put him on comfort care with high doses of mediations to relieve his pain and suffering. I told him to put him on comfort care and to this day it was the best decision of my life. Before he was on this measure of care I could see him actively suffering. Afterwards we was just asleep and pasted away a little while after. Ik this has nothing to do with this case, but I’ve seen many anti palliative care comments. It’s a good thing. Think about the patient not yourself.

Good on you for taking on a challenging topic like this. Have been enjoying the conversations in your last few videos.

I can tell you, as an ER dr (at the same hospital), that all of the pts presented at trial were dead already, many had even been brought back to life more than once after actually dying from cardiac arrests. Killing the patient is caused by removing things that keep them alive like a ventilator and vasopressors. That is a horrible experience. No one survives after that procedure. The question becomes how best to make sure the pt is not experiencing pain , anxiety, or any other discomfort, cause they’re too sick to even talk. A Mrs Castle suffered for days with tears streaming on the “normal” morphine doses with nursing pain assessment at the highest level during that time. Is that comfort care? No.

Thank God the jury was wise enough to see the facts of the case and fully acquit Dr. Husel. Dr. Husel did nothing wrong and that was proven in an actual court of law.

It’s both disturbing and fascinating how he was able to be admitted into medical school with priors of construction and detonation of a bomb (and of all places, outside of a healthcare facility). It also makes you wonder, as you stated, how the pharmacist didn’t find the dosage questionable. From outside the situation, the trend is clear and it’s highly unfortunate that it took so long for a formal report to be conducted on the matter.

As a ICU RN, I could never give that much fentanyl to a patient at one time, and I'd immediately report anyone who did. I can't understand how this got passed the pharmacists either. If I saw an order for 1,000mcg of fentanyl I would've assumed that the MD was trying to order a fentanyl drip. Since fentanyl usually comes in 100mcg per vial, I'd have to be carrying around 10 vials of fentanyl. That would be insane!

My brother was taken off tube in palliative care and had a morphine drip and died overnight. I was there at his side worried it was too much and nurses explained signs his body was in process of shutting down and morphine actually eased him and helped his breathing.

Good video. Certainly the point about staying within dosing guidelines and having an open and honest conversation with your patients and their families is an important consideration in this case.

ICU doctors have patients "die on their watch" on a daily to weekly basis. It sounds as though this entire case is built around the fact that his fentanyl doses were large, not whether these patients were actually going to live or not. It speaks volumes that his nursing staff supported him and filed lawsuits against the hospital system. ICU nurses are notoriously independent and question anything that seems abnormal, so the fact that these terminal extubations/palliative extubations occurred and they felt fine giving these large doses of fentanyl says that the patient probably was at the very end. With that said, when you make the decision to use an abnormal amount of a drug or deviate from established standards of care, you run the risk of something like this happening. Whether your intentions were good or not.

I followed this trial pretty closely as it was taking place. The trial covered each of the 14 patients' charts leading up to their deaths in a decent amount of detail, many of whom were in poor health prior to admission, as well as some who were actively dealing with a substance use disorder. At least two patients were found unconscious, having been down for an unknown period of time. Listening to the family members testify, all of them said some variation of, "My loved one would not want to live like this hooked up to all these tubes." What I found to be particularly troubling was how some of the family members who were testifying to their experience making medical decisions on behalf of the patient had pretty inconsistent, distant relationships with the patient. Phrases like, "we were out of touch for a while," or "we drifted apart" were used. Now, by no means am I saying that they didn't care or love their hospitalized family or that this type of relationship was true for every patient, I couldn't help but feel like some of them were only involved because they saw a potential windfall at the end of the tunnel. I tried really hard to not see it from the "they're only in it for the money" angle, but as much as the prosecution tried to reframe it, it genuinely felt like they were putting lipstick on a pig sometimes. Defense didn't even bother addressing that angle because it was such low-hanging fruit.

I’m surprised he was allowed to practice with criminal charges

It's a mystery why the prosecutor didn't include negligent homicide in the charges in addition to murder when the prosecutor had to know the weakness of the evidence regarding intent

I'm glad he was acquitted. I'm an old RN and have seen this over and over. He's doing these patients a favor and when it's my time, if it ever comes to that, I hope my doctor does exactly what he did.

pain management gets tricky w palliative care...

Been loving this kind of content from you a lot Doc. Please keep making more. God bless.

Love these Cellini medical deep dives!

I know many people, especially men, who will not go to the hospital for fear of dying. My 48 yo cousin just died of pneumonia at home because he refused to go back to the ER. Things like this surely don't help. Sigh

This doctor seems to be assisting death rather than giving palliative care. While he may not want to be gasping for air in his last moments, he cannot make that decision for others.

These are the best videos!!!!!! Keep ‘em coming!!

Thank you for this thoughtful video! I recently discovered your channel because I wad looking into the RaDonda Vaught case and I appreciate your perspective as a medical profession. I would love to see you review other cases like this or about medical crimes, which I find fascinating. (And as a layperson that last image you showed looks like a ghost 😅)

Loving these types of videos!!

I like your channel the most when you get into specifics and talk about concrete cases :) I would like if you’d do a series going through some of the available cases - I get a free daily newsletter from Aunt Minnie, and some of those cases are really fascinating! A lot of time they have the breakdown of all imagining, and I can never tell what I’m looking at in the CT or ultrasound. It gives a basic background and then gives differentials before finding out biopsy examples and stuff. I haven’t heard about this case, interesting that he was cleared! It seems like he didn’t have ideal conversations with the family if they are now suing in civil court.

Why if nurses accidentally kill one they go straight to jail however, this doctor took 30+ people before going to jail?!

As an ICU registered nurse I think these amounts of Fentanyl are grossly excessive and no way would I administer them.

My mother was super sick and with lots of pain, no chance of getting better. I had to bring her to Nicaragua and have a doctor give her fentanyl to help her died. She asked to die. I was so relief to see my mom finally be out of her misery. This man did what’s best. We put our pets down to help them suffer, but we let people suffer so much.

Why? why would someone do something awful like this. The rest of us ran our butts off trying to HELP the patient, and you just murdered them?

As an RN, one thing that I must comment on, is that we must have the dose of whatever opiate we are giving increased. The patient will lose the effectiveness of his medication if we don't increase the amount of the opiate. Studies show that the patient does not become addicted to the medication. And even if a patient who has a terrible diagnoses with no good outcome, deserves the increased dose.

Just as with last week's video ("Another Fatal Nurse Mistake"), there is a theme here of system preservation and how a single component is sometimes used as a "sacraficial lamb" so to speak to somehow help ease the backlash of some mistake(s) - in this case the media exacerbating things unecessarily seemingly. I'm studying for the Step exams now and ethics questions have been more pronounced these days - These cases on your videos remind me of the systematic errors q's I see, where the answer choices explore how to proceed after mistakes are made - they include interactions with colleagues and the hospital system itself.. but of course none of these questions address some of the involved dynamics (like factor that the media, hospital reputation etc, plays) in your vids. Very interesting ethically, and at the forefront of many themes being tacked in medical ethics today. Great vid Doc .

Nursing Student: Thank you so much for covering controversial cases in healthcare.

YOU'RE DOING A GREAT JOB MAN

So, the hospital pharmacist and the doctor should have had a conversation regarding the dosage. And the nurse that transcribed the order should have informed their managers

Thank you for the balance.

I hope they arrest and charge the thousands of doctors who have murdered patients in the hospital these past 2.5 years. If they’re not going to arrest our current “healthcare” workers, then they need to let him go.

I live in Columbus Ohio and I remember hearing about all this. Crazy stuff.

Thank you for this video. The modality of medical institutions i.e hospitals are in dire need of improvement. No one person should have decision making authority. Period. Meds should constantly be reviewed and consistently. if the doctor was being reprimanded, a whole slew of other doctors should also have been on trial. A team not a person. And that is only the beginning of changing the modality . Sorry for those whose end of life had to be that kind of experience. 🙏

I love these videos because it makes me appreciate the great doctors out there

This topic is very hard to talk about for many and I am happy that you put out your video , so thank you. I myself have been presented with the MAID forms and have not signed them yet and the closer I get to death the more afraid I am of dying in pain. I want to die at home with my kids by my side but these papers have been pulled back from me and I am at a loss. I do not want to end up in a hospital unless I sign a DNR form first . Something is not right with my situation and it is scary.

Thanks for your videos which I find informative. Just one suggestion, maybe reduce the number of zoom in and outs. Thank you.

thank you so much for mentioning pharmacy. when verifying, there would be critical pop ups and this would be a perfect example because of the high doses. I’m also shocked that no one suggested using other agents to extubate such as Precedex, propofol, Versed, or etomidate (please correct me if I am wrong since I know they are used to intubate). I also would have thought they would be suspicious if patients kept dying the same way under the same physician…

I was surprised this case didn't receive more media attention.

Health care is serious, that's one more reason why medical schools need to look into legal charges of candidates.....this guy was out there from young age with the whole bomb issue in college.... a person with this kind of mentality should not be allowed into the medical field.

Please keep sharing your videos

I watch for these doctors. My mom died horribly over a long treatment that just made her live and die through hell. I have the same future in front of me. I always make sure the hospital knows I am DNR. I want the palliative doctor who will respect my wishes.

My question is how did this guy even get into medical school after the whole bomb situation in undergrad? I'm in med school and the background checks are extensive!

*Quantity of life is a curse once the Quality of life is over.* The worst job in this world is being Power of Attorney for Health Care. Thank God for doctors who step-in to ease the prolonged suffering of your loved one's when their time comes. Doc Husel was aggressively prosecuted, and fully acquitted of all charges. That should be the end of his persecution.

Shocked that pharmacy and nurses allowed the huge fentanyl doses.

Great video! Greetings from Zagreb 🇭🇷🤚🏻

Proud of this man for honesty

It is no surprise that the nurses were blamed ! The surprise is that a Dr was charged !

I worked in interventional radiology, and I never felt comfortable pushing high doses, so I cannot believe these nurses would feel comfortable pushing that high doses and not reporting this position

Thanks for creating this video! It would be interesting to hear your perspective on what happened in "The Deadly Choices at Memorial" written by Sheri Fink in the NY Times. Very disturbing and completely unethical events occurred in that hospital after Hurricane Katrina without any repercussions to the provider team involved

Dang id LOVE to see some long format videos from you!

After I apologized to a patient and told him that I gave him a med which was ordered but which he did not need, he laughed and stated “ Oh honey, it’s doctors who bury their mistake.” After I gave him a diuretic when his CVP was normal, I freaked called the doc who laughed and asked me why I was so upset, but I insisted on giving a fluid bolts and order labs after that. Everyone in the ICU thought I overreacted, but it upset me, because it was an awful shift in the unit, I was in charge, one of the nurses had overdosed her patient with a Lidocaine drip, and collapsed unable to work anymore. So now we had to absorb her two patients, plus help our new grads with their assignments etc., you get the picture. BTW, I meant “bolus”😂 and the overdosed patient didn’t have a single PVC, lol, and survived without any problems. Nursing is not for the faint of heart, and we need nurses to work as a team, supporting each other.

Overdosing to bring on death in the terminally I’ll has been common for a long time in medicine .

One man cannot be charged with a string of bad decisions, from lack of care at home by families, to poor communication between departments of a hospital. When you watched the trial from start, and avoid listening to the narrative of the lawyers

I have chronic extreme pain and I use fentanyl patches and I know how strong this stuff is but it amazes me that things like this happen in hospitals.

After an extensive trial, Husel was found not guilty on all counts on April 20, 2022.

I gave 1650 mg of dilaudid via a pain pump in 4 hours to a patient with cervical cancer in her home. She was a hospice pt and she was out of pain when I left but still verbally responsive. So it does take a lot to keep certain kinds of pts comfortable but what he ordered seems excessive and why not give the recommended dose and give more if needed?

Critical care nurse here, I have seen and assisted in many palliative extubations, and while hospitals have their own protocols, I have worked in ICU in 3 different hospitals and I’ve never given fentanyl for palliative extubation. Typically we give Ativan and morphine. That’s not to say you can’t give fentanyl I suppose, but definitely not in the dosing he ordered. The most I’ve ever given or seen given at once was 200 mcg. In regards to the way the nurses felt around him, I can definitely say I have been in those situations before, however, if I ever question an order and I feel like I’m not being heard, I definitely go to my superiors. When I first started out in nursing, I was more timid and shy but over the years I have gained my voice And learned to speak up.

Please change your title, as he did not kill 34 patients as determined by the court. Serious question, is there anyone out there who isn't providing extra opioids and benzos for terminal extubation? Maybe not the massive doses described in this case, but I'm certainly not withholding drugs so a dying person can spend an extra hour in respiratory distress. Murder? No. Questionable practice? Most likely.

He still has to face a hearing with the Medical Board, and has his own pending legal action against his former employer (the hospital), and is being sued by patients' families. And, there's no word yet on an appeal being filed in this case. Or, if new charges may be filed. As to the issue of medical school admission, I do think that addressing the prior conduct and background of potential applicants is really important. Also, as others have mentioned, there is the issue of tracking the dispensing of large amounts of a controlled substance. Great, thought provoking vid, as always!.

Palliative care at home is done by family members, INCLUDING medication. I personally have had to go to a pharmacy in the middle of the night to pick up a stronger or different pain reducer. No need to name it because sometimes people want to die at home and their people let them. IT'S HORRIBLE TO WATCH ANYONE SUFFERING THE AGONY OF A PAIN FILLED DEATH

I'm not a nurse or a doctor, I'm a retired medical lab technologist who used to work for an oncologist. I'll never forget hearing his advice to a terminally ill patient's husband NOT to call 911 if she looked like it was time for her to pass. The EMT's would have NO choice except to resuscitate her, that's the law. It's the same in a hospital or other medical facility. There must be a written advanced directive or DNR order signed by the patient or their person who has their power of attorney to be legal. Life must be maintained at all costs, and certainly cannot be shortened, unless they are in a location that allows assisted suicide and that is only with consent. A Dr. Cannot hasten death on his own judgment, it's illegal. Why the nurses and pharmacists didn't speak up is a good question, they must have realized that the patients were getting overdoses.

Love this new niche of topica

I'm very curious as to any information you have about the VA health care system. I'm a vet under thier care and often dread going in for clinical exams. I've seen repeated examples of false entries into my records and I can not a afford private sector care.

Why wouldn’t he have gone to jail immediately for making a pipe bomb and trying to frame someone for it? Community service really?!!!

In addition, the RN is also supposed to be aware of possible drug interactions and/or appropriate doses and double check with the prescribing physician if indicated.

I’m a Nurse the doctor never administered meds, I’m confused the orders are always checked by pharmacy and 3 nurses. I have to hold meds all the time and questions it. The entire hospital needs to be closed down.

Really enjoying the medical videos you’ve made Recently! I’ve missed them! I do enjoy the occasional investment video

how did no one realize he was ordering that much fentanyl?

If I'm dying, give me all the drugs you want as long as I'm happy...

How in the hell!! Did this even happen!!???. How could no one have noticed what the hell was happening!?. This is disgusting shame those poor people and their families!.

This is a good example showing the two-tiered system. No one checks for many years until after a lot of patients die. The doctor ends up acquitted while the nurses are thrown under the bus. IMO medical employees should not be punished unless they intentionally cause harm or death. I would like to see an algorithm select abnormalities to be reviewed by an outside independent body with medical people only as advisors. IMO someone should have checked after the first or second death why this doctor was prescribing such high doses of fentanyl. I often wonder if errors are due overwhelmingly to understaffing and/or working too many hours straight. Whatever the cause(s), the administrators don't seem to care, and they need better oversight.

How did this guy even get a medical license? If you don’t look both ways before crossing the street, the nursing board will blackball you before you even apply. 😆.

In my hospital, Intensivists, Pharmacy, etc developed comfort care protocol with order sets for opiates, anxiolytics, etc. Start dose and titration parameters are included, and ICU nurses are skilled in drip management. This was very helpful. Might have been helpful here

If we scan iohexol in on a patient whose chart says they take metformin(outdated policy), the pharmacy calls us immediately and lets us know. And we’re in a rural hospital who runs on a poor outdated EMR and MAR system. I can’t even imagine how 2000 micrograms of fentanyl didn’t flag him.

I was a nurse aide in ICU almost 40 years ago. I'll tell you right now if you think you have a better chance of survival in ICU you are mistaken. The doctors and nurses are better trained but that doesn't mean they are not better people. I've seen things that would give you nightmares. Those nurses didn't know i had been to nursing school, twice because the first time i ran out of money and the second time i realized how serious it is to be in charge of life instead of comfort. So those doctors and nurses that did the things they did in front of me had no clue i knew better! And no not that much more deaths would be happening if the nurses weren't treating the people as a lost cause in the first place. Truly!

I recently had a procedure in interventional radiology and was given 1mg of midazolam and t-mcg of Fentanyl. After it was given, I was like "I can smell and taste midazolam (even if it’s it’s IV) but I can feel everything you’re doing and I’m wide awake". I had to explain that I was opiate tolerant and at the end of the 30 minute procedure they had given me 4mg and 200mcg of versed and fentanyl, respectively. I was very grumpy when I left the room.

I live in this state. I remember being in pharmacy school when this happened and this was a pretty big deal. A bunch of pharmacists were fired because we are responsible for 50% of every order upon order verification. I really don’t agree with all of these large doses of fentanyl at once, as you really don’t need this much for palliative extubation.

How do those high doses or doses of that caliper of drugs get passed the actual patient INFORMED CONSENT? I would disagree that constitutes being under ANY type of "palliative care'! It's always a good idea to ask the patient or the next of kin, that is often there with the patient. The POA documents filed with the administration/board is also a good place to search files for criminal conduct by doctors.

I do not agree with universal application of Palliative Extubation or iatrogenically expedited death. When my dad was sick with respiratory failure, the ICU staff kept bringing up Palliative care...for someone who was awake, alert, and responsive. Now, my friend's young wife is in a well known hospital system often utilized by celebrities in Los Angeles. She walked into the facility for acute respiratory failure. She has had terminal cancer, but was not ready to give up time with her family yet. They intubated her to give support. She was awake and communicating with everyone when one bout of suctioning secretions, coughing, and bucking against the ventilator led to them knocking her out and paralyzed her. It didn't stop there. They so overly sedated her that it was a DEEP General Anesthetic that required intensive medication to keep her blood pressure up to normal levels. As an anesthesiologist, this is extremely concerning to me. It appears to me that they interpreted DNR in a pt with terminal cancer as permission to finish her off. The family wanted them to bring her out of the sedation one more time to say goodbye, but they had other plans. After some half hearted efforts to "wean her," they became convinced that she will not awaken. They began to withdraw supportive care. Just today, the director of the ICU approached my heartbroken friend to pressure him into accepting active Euthanasia with Palliative Extubation, or shut off the ventilator while she is paralyzed and anesthetized. My friend said no, and then the ICU doctor stopped all supportive measures in order to expedite her death. This is not compassionate care, it is inhumane and cruel to expedite the death of someone who is not ready to go. This is the unethical and unfortunate state of medicine.

Because doctors take the hippocratic oath, patients believe doctors won’t lie and have our best interests in mind. We also tend to believe doctors research answers or have them in their head already. We forget the are human and have a wide variety of backgrounds and social values just like everyone else. I have felt fortunate to find the doctors I have had in the past.

Did 5 years ICU as RN. Did allot of comfort care. Normally we use morphine rather than fentanyl for comfort care and it's always a continuous gtt with boluses as needed. The thing that stands out to me is, this Dr ordering 2 grams fentanyl as a bolus is entirely inappropriate. Boluses (usually 50-100mcg) are given based on pain symptoms using various pain assessment tools and it's the nurse that decides how to appropriately dose the analgesics for comfort care (ie palliative extubation) based on bedside assessments. Ordering 2 grams as a bolus is a lethal dose and should be classified as assisted suicide or even perhaps assisted homicide IMO.