Diseases & Conditions Blog

Family Sues After Woman Dies Following Gastric Bypass - Monday, July 28, 2008

The family of a woman who died two weeks after gastric bypass surgery has filed a lawsuit against her doctors and a Houston, Texas hospital. Freda Brantley, 48, was discharged from the hospital after vertical-banded gastroplasty on June 6, 2005. The suit alleges that Ms. Brantley was discharged to go home without the appropriate treatment. She died from kidney failure on June 21, 2005, just fifteen days after the surgery. She had vomited for those two weeks and was malnourished.

The suit seeks unspecified damages against Dr. Nisar Ahmed, Dr. Beryl Harberg and Park Plaza Hospital. Hospital officials who were contacted for comment stated, "While patient privacy laws prohibit us from speaking directly to this case, we will vigorously defend the integrity of our care, quality and services."

In March 2007, the mother of a Houston woman who died one year after undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 2004 filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Houston surgeon Dr. Younan Nowzaradan and Houston Community Hospital. Prior to that, an Austin woman died from a heart attack also just two weeks following gastric bypass surgery.