Errors turned hernia repair into fatal constipation: Lawsuit
Law and Crime News • • health
Key Points:
- The family of Laura Belt, who died from complications after a routine hernia repair in May 2024, is suing surgeon Dr. Edwin Vincent Wehling, nurses Brandi Oesch and Tammy Roberts, and Decatur County Hospital for alleged medical malpractice.
- Belt suffered from infection and severe constipation symptoms post-surgery, including stool leaking from her incision, which hospital staff reportedly dismissed as normal.
- The Iowa Board of Medicine has charged Dr. Wehling with professional incompetency and harmful practice related to his care at Decatur County Hospital.
- Despite Belt’s worsening condition and communication with nurses, she was not advised to seek emergency care until she was admitted to another hospital in septic shock, where she later died.
- The defendants deny wrongdoing, with Wehling attributing complications to possible pre-existing or subsequent medical conditions; a trial is scheduled for August 23, 2024.
