A woman in Miami suffered severe brain damage and now needs constant care after a terminally ill anesthesiologist in Texas allegedly gave her a large amount of fentanyl during what her husband claims was unnecessary dental surgery.
On May 10, 2022, Maria Lugo Querales had dental surgery in Marble Falls, Texas. Before the procedure, her heart stopped beating, and she couldn’t breathe, as per her husband Luis Espana’s medical malpractice complaint against Dr. Jerry Teague. The complaint alleges that Dr. Teague administered too much anesthesia without intubating her first.
The surgery was supposed to address “alleged ‘cavitations'” and extract a root canal-treated tooth that showed no symptoms, according to the lawsuit obtained by The New York Post.
A police report from San Antonio Express-News reveals that Lugo received around 400 grams of fentanyl, along with the sedative midazolam and the anesthetic lidocaine.
In April 2023, Robert Ertner, a Californian anesthesiologist unrelated to Lugo’s case, stated to the Express-News that “400 micrograms of fentanyl is a huge dose for somebody who is having a tooth extracted.”
Teague used to work as a doctor in Marble Falls, but he got in trouble a few years ago for taking drugs from a different clinic where he worked. In 2019, his suspension was lifted, and he started working in a clinic in Texas.
Teague is accused of giving a variety of drugs to Lugo just a day after Lugo’s wife reported him missing. Lugo didn’t come home after an evening walk.
Lugo’s wife told the police that Teague was having trouble with his memory because he had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was told he had less than a year to live, according to a lawsuit filed by Espana.
Only two weeks after Lugo was seriously hurt, Teague passed away from cancer.
Due to their alleged negligence, Espana is currently suing the dental clinic, dentists Lane Freeman and Stuart Nunnally, and alleging that they “offering, planning, and performing unnecessary dental surgery” as well as sedated his wife “for no valid reason.”
Such misconduct has been refuted by the doctors.
The Post reports that Espana, who last month reached a private deal with Teague’s estate, is suing the dentist office and the doctors for undisclosed damages.
Lugo is currently receiving round-the-clock care at a neurological rehabilitation facility in Florida. She is fed through a tube and requires a tracheotomy to breathe.
