Doctor sues surgery center after patient dies following “tummy-tuck” procedure
By Emily Sanderson
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CINCINNATI (WLWT) — A doctor has filed a lawsuit against a surgery center, claiming negligence and underqualified staff led to the death of his patient following a “tummy-tuck” procedure.
The civil lawsuit was filed by Dr. Shahryar Tork, a plastic surgeon practicing in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Tork is suing JourneyLite Surgery and its anesthesia partner Associated Anesthesiologists of Springfield, Inc., claiming the company’s lack of care led to the death of his patient, Rachel Tussey.
Tussey’s death made headlines after she went in for an abdominoplasty, commonly known as a “tummy-tuck” procedure at JourneyLite Surgery, but while recovering she was found to be unresponsive and was rushed to the hospital where she was found to be “brain dead.”
Her family said in videos online that Tussey died over two weeks later.
Tussey’s husband took to TikTok to share the story, alleging “incompetence.” The video quickly went viral on the social media platform.
In the suit, Tork claims he performed a nearly nine-hour surgery on Tussey, saying it went smoothly and she had “minimal blood loss” and required “very low doses of pain medication throughout the procedure.”
The suit claims Tussey was alert and talking post surgery and Tork left thinking she would be in good hands.
He alleges two of the nurses at the surgery center administered a 150 micrograms of fentanyl and .5 mg of Dilaudid, saying it led to her fatal overdose.
JourneyLite responded to the suit, saying its staff acted within the standard of care, that state auditors found no wrongdoing, and that the family refused an autopsy that could have determined the cause of death.
“It is unfortunate and somewhat shocking that Dr.Tork claims to be the victim here due apparently to the loss of his reputation in a case where the Tussey family tragically lost Rachel,” a law firm representing the surgery center stated.
The firm refuted the claim Tussey was given more opioids than needed, saying an independent review found the medications given were appropriate and within the standard of care and that her sudden unresponsiveness was not opioid related, claiming multiple doses of Narcan were administered and had no effect.
The suit claims the nurses did not call 911 until four minutes after telling Tork the call had been made. It also alleges one of the nurses improperly used a bag mask, leading Tussey to go without oxygen to her brain for six minutes.
In its response to the lawsuit, the surgery center claims it urged the family to allow an autopsy to determine the cause of death, but says the request was refused.
Tork is alleging the surgery center has a history of this kind of behavior with “over-sedating” patients and that one of the nurses had previously been fired for “incompetence” but was later rehired and another employee was fired for raising concerns about the nurse.
Tork also alleges the anesthesia team left the surgery center during post-anesthesia care violating Ohio administrative code.
The lawsuit also alleges the surgery center tried to cover up what happened by altering records, hiding the identity of the nurse involved and pressuring Tork to change his notes.
“I expressed my concerns to the facility regarding the orders that had been placed and the dosage that had been administered,” Tork said. “The following week, the phase one order sheet had become completely different.
JourneyLite denies any record tampering or cover-up and that any allegations that they attempted to are “false and defamatory.”
Tork is demanding a trial against those named in the suit, seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
The attorney representing the family of Rachel Tussey said a temporary restraining order is being filed against JourneyLite, to stop them from “further destroying, fabricating, or deleting evidence.”
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