What should have been an Iowa mother's routine hernia surgery ended in sepsis and death—and a malpractice suit that now targets her surgeon, two nurses, and their small-town hospital. The family of 46-year-old Laura Belt alleges her bowel was perforated during surgery and that staff at Decatur County Hospital repeatedly dismissed alarming post-surgery symptoms, including severe pain, no bowel movements, and what was later determined to be fecal drainage from her incision, per Fox News.
Text messages cited in the complaint show nurse Tammy Roberts telling Belt that the brown fluid leaking from the wound was "normal" and could continue for a month. That was on May 9, 2024, more than a week after the surgery. The following day, a video call with nurse Brandi Oesch also allegedly did not result in an emergency referral. On May 11, Belt was rushed by ambulance to another hospital in septic shock. She died four days later.
The lawsuit accuses surgeon Dr. Edwin Vincent Wehling and the two registered nurses of negligence; all deny wrongdoing. Wehling has argued Belt's complications may stem from other medical conditions, per the Iowa Capital Dispatch. The family, meanwhile, accuses him of altering records to make it appear as though he had prescribed an antibiotic after the video call. A civil trial is scheduled for Aug. 23. Separate from the lawsuit, the Iowa Board of Medicine has charged Wehling with "professional incompetency," with a disciplinary hearing set for September.
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