Husband of internet star who died after ‘mommy makeover’ sues surgery center over tummy-tuck tragedy

A TikTok user died after negligent nurses caused her to overdose on painkillers while she was recovering from a tummy tuck, according to a lawsuit recently filed by the woman’s husband.

Rachel Tussey, a mother of three with more than 80,000 followers on TikTok, was excited to get a ‘mommy makeover’ before undergoing the procedure at JourneyLite surgery center in Cincinnati on February 25.

He had been documenting the process on his social media page and had uploaded a video from the operating bed shortly before he sank for nine hours.

“I feel a wide range of emotions, but mostly definitely excitement and gratitude,” she said in the video. he said. ‘My husband is here. I’ve got a great support team and I’m really looking forward to the next chapter.’

Please pray. I know it’s going to be great and I’ve been waiting for it for so long. I’m in safe hands. I know God has my back,” he said later in the post.

But according to a lawsuit filed by Rachel’s husband, Jeremy Tussey, last week, it turns out his wife really isn’t in safe hands.

The lawsuit states that one of the nurses in JourneyLite’s recovery room administered 150 micrograms of fentanyl and half a milligram of Dilaudid within 30 minutes of her surgery, causing Rachel to overdose on opioids.

That dosage, according to the lawsuit, was well above what the mother received during her nine-hour surgery, during which she was administered 100 micrograms of fentanyl and half a milligram of Dilaudid.

Just before the surgery, Rachel posted a video on TikTok saying she was excited. There is a picture in that video

According to a lawsuit filed by Jeremy, Rachel died because she was given too many painkillers and suffered a drug overdose. Photographed in hospital bed after being declared brain dead in a video posted by her husband

The lawsuit alleges that Rachel’s overdose caused her to lose oxygen flow to her brain for more than six minutes, and that nurses failed to take immediate action and provide the necessary intervention during that critical time period.

The lawsuit also stated that after nurses called 911 about nine minutes after she became unresponsive, Rachel was transported to Bethesda North Hospital, where staff determined she was brain dead.

He remained on a ventilator until March 7, when he was transferred to hospice care. He died in hospice on March 17.

Bethesda North Hospital determined that Rachel’s cause of death was anoxic brain injury and acute respiratory failure resulting from an overdose.

Hospital staff also ruled out other possible causes of death, such as complications from surgery, according to the lawsuit.

About a month before Jeremy filed the lawsuit, Rachel’s surgeon, Dr. Shahryar Tork also filed a lawsuit accusing JourneyLite and its staff of negligence and causing the death of his patient.

“Rachel’s death was completely unnecessary and resulted from the JourneyLite nurse recklessly overdosing Rachel with narcotics and the JourneyLite anesthesiologist abandoning her patient,” the surgeon said. WCPO.

‘This was not a tummy tuck complication; “If other people did their job right, he would be at home and I would see him smiling in my office,” Tork added.

Rachel died in hospice on March 17. Hospital staff ruled out any cause of death other than lack of oxygen to his brain due to an overdose.

Rachel’s husband said in a video released after her brain death that Rachel was “sensitive to drugs.” The couple took a photo together

‘[Rachel’s] The surgeon’s lawsuit stated that the low dosage of pain medication reflected Ms. Tussey’s low level of opioid tolerance.

In a video released from Bethesda North Hospital, while Rachel was still on a ventilator, her husband said similarly: ‘She was given too much medication.

‘The fifth point, Dilaudid, in addition to 150 fentanyl is a lot for someone so sensitive and sensitive to drugs,’ he said.

JourneyLite, Associate Anesthesiologists of Springfield, facility managers, and nurses listed as Jane Does were all named as defendants in Jeremy’s lawsuit.

The civil complaint accused JourneyLite of being responsible for Rachel’s death due to “systemic errors” and “regulatory violations.”

Surgeon Tork was not named as a defendant in Jeremy’s case.

The complaint also accused the surgery center of attempting to alter its records by changing medication doses and administration times after Rachel died, and referenced an email about ‘clearing files’ sent by a JourneyLite employee the day of Rachel’s death.

Facility managers even asked Tork to change the operating notes twice, but Tork refused to do so on both occasions, according to the lawsuit.

Rachel’s surgeon also filed a lawsuit accusing the surgery center and its staff of negligence and saying Rachel had been ‘taken away from her family.’ Mother took a photo with her family

The lawsuit broadly charged the defendants with medical negligence, negligent hiring and retention, plunder of evidence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and loss of consortium.

Jeremy is seeking damages in excess of $25,000 per claim, as well as punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. The case requested a trial by jury.

JourneyLite denied all allegations made in the lawsuit in a statement to the Daily Mail.

One GoFundMe Set up to help Jeremy pay his medical expenses, Rachel has been described as ‘an example of what community and compassion should look like’.

‘He devoted countless hours to helping others following Hurricane Helene, including organizing fundraising efforts, collecting supplies, and personally delivering essential items to those in need,’ the fundraising page reads.

‘When someone needed help, Rachel was always the first person to step forward.’