Was Dr. George (The Chief of Anesthesiology, played by Rip Torn)

I think he did suspect something was amiss and that's why he borrowed those ten charts from the medical records section. But when he looked though each chart, he couldn't see any errors in the application of the anesthesia. And why would he? The oxygen line would have been turned on and kept on for the appropriate amount of time in each case. He would have no idea that CO is actually coming through that line from a radio-controlled device mounted above the ceiling. Now you might say that he should have noted the fact that in all ten cases these comas were occurring in operation room 8. I think that's where his hubris came in to play. He might have overlooked it while someone like Dr. Wheeler is coming in with a fresh set of eyes (as well as the inside information from the janitor). Dr. Wheeler also had the boldness to talk to the pathologists about how they'd go about killing someone with anesthesia to see if her theory had legs. Dr. George may not have had the disposition to engage in that kind of banter. He may have so much faith in the hospital and his staff that the idea that anything but oxygen could be coming through that line was anathema.