Iowa woman died following hernia repair after nurses dismissed painful post-surgery symptoms: lawsuit

Key Points:

• Laura Belt, a 46-year-old Iowa woman, died in May 2024 from complications related to a bowel perforation and sepsis following routine hernia repair surgery at Decatur County Hospital.
• Belt's family alleges medical staff, including surgeon Dr. Edwin Vincent Wehling and nurses Brandi Oesch and Tammy Roberts, ignored signs of infection and severe constipation, dismissing feculent drainage from her incision as normal.
• The family has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the surgeon, nurses, and the hospital, while the Iowa Board of Medicine has charged Dr. Wehling with professional incompetency, with a hearing scheduled for September.
• Despite Belt's repeated complaints and visual evidence of stool leaking from her wound, hospital staff failed to provide timely emergency care or proper antibiotic treatment, contributing to her fatal septic shock.
• The defendants deny wrongdoing, with Wehling suggesting Belt's complications may have stemmed from pre-existing or unrelated conditions; a trial is set for August 23, 2024.