(CNN) Nine nurses and a pharmacist who worked with a doctor accused of killing 25 people by overprescribing pain medication in Columbus, Ohio, are suing their previous employer for defamation and wrongful termination, according to a lawsuit.

The plaintiffs claim in a 145-page lawsuit that Mount Carmel Health System, former CEO Ed Lamb and Trinity Health Corporation, the parent company of Mount Carmel, fired those who worked with Dr. William Husel at Mount Carmel West Hospital for their alleged complicit behavior in following through on Husel's prescriptions.

They allege that the hospital system then changed policies concerning medication dosage that risked patient care for the purpose of protecting its image. Through these acts and the hospital's media relations campaign managing the scandal, the lawsuit says, the hospital defamed their reputation and made it difficult to find new jobs.

"This preposterous (but headline-grabbing) false narrative of an evil rogue doctor and his complicit staff ultimately destroyed the lives and livelihoods of dozens of dedicated nurses and pharmacists, and convinced the public, the Franklin County prosecutor, and the State Attorney General, that something terrible had been going on," the lawsuit states.

CNN has reached out to the Franklin County prosecutor and the Ohio attorney general for comment.

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