Ford O'Brien Landy LLP: Court Rules Dr. William Husel's Defamation Case Against Trinity Health Corporation Will Proceed to Trial
COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In a significant legal development, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas has ruled that Dr. William Husel's defamation lawsuit against Mount Carmel Health System, Trinity Health Corporation, and former executive Edward Lamb may proceed to trial. The court denied the defendants' motion for summary judgment on the defamation claim, finding that sufficient evidence of defamation has been presented such that key issues in the case must be decided by a jury. As alleged in the Complaint, following Trinity Health Corporation and the other defendants' calculated and knowingly false media campaign, Dr. Husel was indicted on 25 counts of murder on June 5, 2019. Shortly before trial, the prosecutors dropped 11 counts in the indictment. Dr. Husel was then acquitted on all 14 remaining counts on April 20, 2022.
"Dr. William Husel was a devoted and empathetic physician, offering compassionate end-of-life care to patients."
Dr. Husel intends to prove at trial that as part of the discovery process in the defamation case, Trinity Health Corporation was forced to disclose internal communications revealing a sinister plot by hospital executives to depict Dr. Husel and several nurses as "villains" and concocting a plan to defame Dr. Husel because criminal "indictments would be helpful" for Mount Carmel's position. Dr. Husel learned that these executives hired multiple public relations firms which developed a communications strategy to convince the public that Dr. Husel was a killer—while knowing that to be false. Trinity Health Corporation's strategy was intended to turn public sentiment in favor of Mount Carmel and away from Dr. Husel and nurses that had selflessly cared for patients for years.
The trial will highlight the sophisticated campaign of false and misleading information was able to deceive both the general public and law enforcement (who relied on the Trinity Health Corporation's purported expertise) leading to Dr. Husel's arrest and indictment as Dr. Husel alleged in the complaint. Dr. Husel—knowing full well the false allegations made against him—filed his defamation lawsuit in December 2019, while still under indictment for 25 counts of murder and before the start of his trial in which he was acquitted. Among the issues at trial will be Dr. Husel's allegations that Mount Carmel and its executives defamed him following a sham "investigation" into his care of critically ill patients.
Counsel for Dr. Husel, Ford O'Brien Landy LLP, stated, "Dr. William Husel was a devoted and empathetic physician, offering compassionate end-of-life care to patients and their families during their most vulnerable moments. We intend to prove that in a calculated and callous act of corporate greed, one of the nation's largest hospital corporations launched a ruthless smear campaign against him (and other innocent nurses and dedicated health care professionals), knowingly distorting the truth, and sacrificing Dr. Husel's reputation and career to protect their own financial interests.
Now, after years of suffering and perseverance, Dr. Husel's case will proceed to trial, offering a long-overdue opportunity for justice, and a chance to expose the powerful forces that conspired to destroy this honorable man's life. We expect the jury's verdict to send a powerful message to corporations who in the future might be tempted to destroy the lives of innocent employees for their own gains." Dr. Husel is represented in the action by Robert Landy, Anjula Prasad, and Adam Ford.
A trial date has been set for June 2, 2025.
Media Contact:
Katherine Jaskot
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