The doctor, William Husel, is pleading innocent, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
- Missouri/Wisconsin: The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee on Tuesday announced it would be creating a doll featuring Laila Anderson, an 11-year-old fan of the St. Louis Blues NHL team, who is currently battling hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a rare immune system disease that has only been found in 15 other children worldwide, ESPN reports. The doll features Anderson on a hockey rink dressed in the jean jacket she wears to every Blues games she attends. For each doll sold, St. Louis Children's Hospital, where Anderson is staying, will receive $5 (Wyshynski, ESPN, 6/5).
- Ohio: Prosecutors in Franklin County on Wednesday charged William Husel, a former doctor with Mount Carmel Health System, with murder in the deaths of 25 palliative care patients whom authorities say Husel killed with deliberate overdoses of painkillers. Husel has pled not guilty to the charges, and his lawyer, Richard Blake, said Husel was trying to provide comfort care to dying patients and never "intend[ed] to euthanize anyone." Mount Carmel has publicly apologized and said its cooperating with authorities and making "meaningful changes" to ensure similar events do not happen again (Frank, Associated Press, 6/5; Hassan, New York Times, 6/5).
- Pennsylvania: UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh has named Mark Sevco as its new president. Sevco previously served as COO of UPMC Pinnacle and has been UPMC Children's interim president since January. He'll succeed Christopher Gessner, who left to become president and CEO of University of Colorado Hospital (Gough, Pittsburgh Business Times, 6/5).