The widow of an Odessa man who died a month after undergoing gallbladder surgery has filed a lawsuit against the general surgeon who performed the procedure and Odessa Regional Medical Center.
According to the lawsuit filed Monday in Ector County District Court, Don Poston, 66, underwent a laparoscopic gallbladder removal on Oct. 19, 2020, but had to undergo a second surgery four days later. During the surgery, he developed an irregular heartbeat (paroxysmal atrial fibrillation) and acute renal failure, the lawsuit stated.
In addition, the lawsuit alleges Poston developed an infection and pneumonia and he died on Nov. 20, 2020.
The lawsuit alleges Dr. Terry Unruh, who performed the surgery, failed to recognize or acknowledge his recognition of Poston’s symptoms, failed to limit the likelihood or probability of infection and failed to control the infection and pneumonia.
Jill Poston’s attorney, Lane Haygood of Odessa, states in the lawsuit ORMC is responsible because it was responsible for hiring, training and supervising Unruh.
Jill Poston is seeking unspecified damages for “the conscious pain and suffering and mental anguish the decedent suffered prior to death and for the reasonable and necessary medical, funeral and burial expenses which were reasonably incurred because of such wrongful death.”
She is also seeking unspecified punitive damages staying Unruh was aware of the risks, “but nevertheless proceeded with conscious indifference to the rights, safety or welfare of plaintiff and others.”
ORMC President Stacey Brown said the hospital does not comment on pending litigation.
Unruh did not return a phone call seeking comment.
ORMC is also being sued by Basin Surgical Properties.
According to a lawsuit filed in Ector County District Court, Basin Surgical Properties leased the medical facility at 900 E. 4th Street to ORMC for a period of seven years, starting in June 2015. The hospital was expected to pay $1.1 million annually.
In August 2021, ORMC notified Basin Surgical Properties it intended to renew the lease for five years and both parties agreed to have a third party conduct a fair market rent analysis of the property and that company determined the rent should increase to $1,166,000 annually, the lawsuit stated.
Although the hospital had 15 days to rescind its renewal after receiving the quote, it didn’t, the lawsuit stated. Instead, according to the lawsuit, the hospital waited until seven days before the new lease was to start to “repudiate” the renewal of the lease.
Basin Surgical Properties’ attorney, Murray Crutcher III of Atkins, Hollmann, Jones, Peacock, Lewis & Lyon, allege the hospital has defaulted on its rent payments since June.
He further claims the hospital “hastily and without regard for damage to the lease premises, removed its personal property and trade fixtures” from the property on July 1 without giving notice and without locking the doors.
“Defendant abandoned all semblance of any normal procedure for moving out of a leased space, much less a multi-million-dollar medical facility,” the lawsuit states. “The defendant did not ever bother returning the keys of the leased premises to the plaintiff. Instead, the defendant simply left the keys inside the unlocked building unknowing whether the plaintiff would find them.”
“In short, defendant snuck off into the night as a deadbeat tenant, hoping that it could avoid its landlord and the obligations it had abandoned,” the lawsuit stated.
Because Basin Surgical Properties thought for 10 months ORMC was renewing its contract, the company didn’t try to find other tenants. As a result, the company was seeking lost rents in the amount of $5,830,000, plus other, unspecified damages.
On Tuesday, court documents indicate Global Healthcare Properties acquired all interest in the property and is now pursuing the lawsuit against ORMC with Crutcher representing them. The company is still seeking the back rent, too.
In a written response filed with the court, ORMC’s attorney, Thomas Yoxall, denies “each and every, all and singular, allegations” contained within the lawsuit.
