A dental surgery gone wrong in Texas has resulted in a Miami woman, Maria Lugo Querales, suffering severe brain damage and requiring ongoing care in a Florida assisted living facility. The incident, which occurred in 2022, involved an alleged fentanyl overdose during the procedure.
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Querales’ husband, Luis Espana, has filed a civil medical malpractice complaint against the dental practice Nunnally, Freeman, and Owens, as well as the doctors involved, Dr. Lane Freeman and Dr. Stuart Nunnally, citing negligence. However, the anesthesiologist, Dr. Jerry Teague, who administered 400 grams of fentanyl to Querales, passed away from cancer just two weeks after the incident. His wife reportedly informed the police that he was dealing with “cognitive issues” and was distraught at the time.
The night before the surgery, Teague’s wife reported him missing after he failed to return from an evening walk. When he finally reappeared, he told the police that he was dehydrated and disoriented, refusing medical attention. The following morning, Teague’s wife drove him to work without mentioning his disappearance the night before, as reported by PEOPLE. Espana detailed the events in a GoFundMe post, explaining that after the fentanyl was administered, his wife’s vital signs dropped, leading to respiratory arrest, brain damage, and ultimately a coma.
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 “On May 10, 2022, I accompanied my beloved wife, MarÃa Elena Lugo, to a Clinic in the state of Texas to perform a surgical intervention that required the use of anesthesia, even so, that intervention was never performed because something very serious happened, when the Anesthesiologist began the anesthesia procedure, my wife’s vital signs began to drop, and she suddenly went into respiratory arrest, which led her to suffer brain damage, and thus a coma , so we had to immediately transfer her by ambulance to another center and admit her to the San David South Austin Medical Center Hospital for her treatment and care.”
At work, Teague allegedly neglected to inform his colleagues about his previous night’s ordeal. As a result, he proceeded to administer an excessive amount of fentanyl to Querales, as claimed by her husband in the lawsuit. The lawsuit further alleges that Teague failed to properly intubate Querales, leading to breathing difficulties that necessitated the cancellation of the surgery.
Espana’s lawsuit claims that his wife sought out the elective dental surgery to address “cavitations” after watching a video on Instagram by Dr. Ludwig Johnson, a famous social media influencer with approximately 1.9 million followers. In the video, Drs. Freeman and Nunnally discussed the issue and its potential remedies, stating that “cavitations” are oral wounds that can be as toxic as gangrenous wounds, especially in cases where teeth, such as wisdom teeth, have been extracted.
Espana is seeking unspecified damages from the doctors and the dental office. He settled with Teague’s estate last month. It is worth noting that Teague had his medical license suspended from 2016 to 2019 for alleged medicine theft and testing positive for fentanyl during a drug test. Shortly after his suspension ended, he was hired by the Nunnally, Freeman, and Owens dental practice in Texas.