Belt's family is suing the hospital, the doctor who performed her surgery and two nurses in a medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit, alleging that Belt's post-operation concerns were dismissed.
An Iowa woman died two weeks after she underwent surgery to repair a hernia, and her family is now suing the hospital and medical team involved, according to a complaint obtained by PEOPLE.
Laura Belt of Wayne County, Iowa, underwent the surgery on April 30, 2024, about a month after a consultation with a physician, who said she needed "repair of massive recurrent incarcerated left flank hernia," according to the complaint. She died on May 15, 2024, from "bowel perforation and sepsis," according to the lawsuit filed by Paul Belt, the administrator of Laura's estate.
The Belt family is suing Decatur County Hospital, Dr. Edwin Wehling, who performed the surgery, and nurses Brandi Oesch and Tammy Roberts, according to the wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit obtained by PEOPLE.
A week after her surgery, Laura was discharged from the hospital on May 7, 2024; however, she had "a large amount of drainage," from her surgical incision that drenched her dressing in fluid, her family alleged in their lawsuit.
When Laura left the hospital, she was "very uncomfortable" and "very anxious and tearful," the complaint claims, adding that she had not had a bowel movement since before her surgery two weeks prior. Per the complaint, there was no nursing staff in place to take care of her at home. Instead, she was prescribed Bactrim and an oral antibiotic.
Two days after her discharge, Laura texted Roberts and said her incision was "covered in feculent, brown liquid and material," according to the complaint. Roberts allegedly responded by advising Laura to keep the area clean, wash it with soap and water, and contact Oesch if it worsened. She added that Oesch said the incision would "drain like this" for a month.
The next day, on May 10, 2024, Laura FaceTimed Oesch, who noticed brown fluid coming out of her incision, and brown fluid on the bathroom floor. The lawsuit alleges that Oesch did not urge Laura to seek medical attention.
On May 11, 2024, Laura was taken to the Wayne County Hospital Emergency Department via EMS where she learned she was "hypoxic and in septic shock secondary to infection from her hernia repair." She was airlifted to MercyOne Medical Center in Des Moines just over an hour later. Wayne County Hospital attempted to call Dr. Wehling; however, he wasn't on call and there was no surgical staff on duty, per the lawsuit.
Laura was "diagnosed with life-threatening sepsis and bowel perforation" on May 13, 2024, and died two days later of complications, her family said in the lawsuit.
Laura's estate is suing Dr. Wehling for medical malpractice, and Oesch and Roberts for medical malpractice and wrongful death. They are suing Decatur County Hospital for medical malpractice and wrongful death vicarious liability as well as negligent hiring retention and supervision.
They are suing all defendants for loss of chance of survival and medical malpractice lack of informed consent.
They did not specify how much they are suing for but said they want to be "fairly and fully" compensated and demand a jury trial.
In January, the Iowa Board of Medicine charged Dr. Wehling, who is from Leon, Iowa, with professional incompetence and with practicing in manner that is harmful or detrimental to the public, according to Iowa Capital Dispatch. It's unclear if the charges are related to Laura's case.
In their response to the petition, the defendants admitted to providing Laura with medical care and the claims related to her medical records; however, denied any medical malpractice allegations against them.
A jury trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 23, 2027.
PEOPLE has reached out to attorneys for the Belt family and the defendants named in the lawsuit.