TikToker Dies After Mommy Makeover Post-Op Nightmare: Lawsuit

I know it's going to be great, and I've. waited a really long time for this. >> A TikTok momfluencer documented her. journey as she reportedly went under the. knife for what she called a mommy. makeover. However, this was a decision. that would lead to tragedy. >> Somebody dropped the ball and killed my. wife. >> The surgeon claims this was out of his. control, and now he's taking legal. [music] action. >> This patient was taken from me. I've never lost a patient. >> This lawsuit is about getting the truth. out there.

>> [music]. >> and making sure that the world. understands what happened here. >> Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law &. Crime. >> [music]. >> I'm Jesse Weber. All right, before we go any further, I. got to tell you about this app. I think. you're going to love it. It's called. Upside. Gets you cash back. Yes, real. extra cash back on everyday purchases. like gas, groceries, takeout. Here's. what you do. You download Upside for. free. You claim an offer at one of the. 100,000-plus locations. You pay like. normal with your card. You verify the. purchase, and just like that, money. back. So, say I need to get gas or I.

want takeout one night, I'll search for. Upside offers first, and after I spend, money appears in my app that I can. transfer right into my bank account. And. Upside's frequent users, they earn an. average of $254. back a year. So, to start getting your. cash back, click the link in the. description or scan the QR code and use. promo code Sidebar to get an extra 25. cents bonus on every gallon on your. first tank of gas. 47-year-old married. mother of three, Rachel Tussy, had an. optimistic look in the new year. Plans. to put herself first in the form of a. special cosmetic procedure.

>> Set it up. 2026 is your year. Your year, mama. If you're in your 40s, it is your. turn. I've got a mommy makeover. scheduled for early February 26. I'm. super excited for that. Um and I'm doing. it for me, not for anybody else. >> Now, mommy makeover's not really a new. thing. I mean, you go to the data. According to the latest data from the. American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there were over 171,000. tummy tuck procedures performed in 2024. It's the third most popular cosmetic. surgery that year. Now, yes, any surgery.

carries its own risks, but to be clear, the mortality rate of such procedures is. reportedly very rare. Statistically, there is a 1 in 13,000 chance of it. happening. This is according to a 2020. medical journal article. >> Okay, here it is. It's my turn. I feel a big range of emotions, but. mostly is absolutely excitement and. gratitude. Um my husband's here. I've got a great. support team.

And I'm really looking forward to this. next chapter. >> But sadly for Tussy and her family, this. is one of those cases. Tussy never made. it out of the recovery room following. her mommy makeover in February. And her. husband had to share the tragic news on. her TikTok account. >> I was told last night. that she's brain dead. I've got a couple days to make a. decision. >> March 17th, exactly 2 weeks after that. video was posted,

Tussy passed away in hospice care. Now, there are a lot of questions needing to. be answered here, right? How did this. happen? Is someone at fault? Who's at. fault? Could this have been avoided? Was. it a mistake? Was it an accident? Now, I'm going to preface this by also saying. there are no criminal charges that are. filed in this case at the time of this. recording, but just this week, and this. is what we want to get into, there was a. civil lawsuit that was filed by the. surgeon and the surgical center. containing shocking allegations they. believe will reveal the truth behind.

this horrible situation. >> This is the first patient, you could say. that I've lost, but she was taken from. me. This was not a tummy tuck. complication. She would be home. I would be seeing her smiling in my. office. if other people had done their job. right. >> And it's not just about alleged. mistakes, it's about an alleged. cover-up. That is the theme of this. lawsuit, and I want to get into it, okay? So, the man you just saw is Dr.

Sherif Tork. Apologies if I. mispronounced the first name. But, this. is the surgeon behind Tork Plastic. Surgery LLC, both listed as plaintiffs. in this lawsuit that was filed on. Tuesday, okay? So, they're the ones. suing. Now, you might be wondering, okay, who is the surgeon targeting in. this lawsuit? According to the filing, the defendants are listed as Journey. Light of Cincinnati LLC, Associated. Anesthesiologists of Springfield Inc., and John Jane Doe Corporations 1 through. 12. Now, how do they all play in this?

Well, here's how the lawsuit begins. This action arises out of the tragic. death of Rachel Tussy, Dr. Sherif Tork's. patient at the Journey Light Surgery. Center. After Mrs. Tussy's successful. surgery, Journey Light failed to provide. safe recovery and post-anesthesia care. So, to be clear, this is not about. someone dying in the middle of a. surgery, not the idea of a botched. surgery and someone dies in the middle. of it. This is about what allegedly. happened afterwards. So, according to.

this lawsuit, the surgeon claims that. Tussy's death was not his doing, it was. not his fault, but it was the doing of. the post-op crew that was associated. with the surgical center and the. anesthesiology center. But, what does. the surgeon allege actually happen? And, is there potentially a case here? That's. what we're going to walk through. And. remember, this is Tork's allegations, right? This is his narrative, his. version, just keep that in mind. But, the filing states that Dr. Tork met. Tussy for consultation. Now, she. originally didn't want to move forward. with the procedure because of the cost.

Despite this, apparently Tussy left a. positive Google review on Dr. Tork's. business profile, and based on the. doctor's impression of her because he. seemed to have been so taken aback by. her doing that, he decided, you know. what, let's work things out financially, and they went forward with scheduling. the procedure for February 25th at the. JourneyLite Surgery Center. >> My doctor is Dr. Torc in Cincinnati and. when I tell you this guy is amazing, he. is amazing. I see why people come from. all over the country because he has a.

skill set that is definitely not a. Midwest doctor at all. Um so, I'm super. impressed with him and I think that. liking your surgeon and trusting your. surgeon, I I think that makes a big. difference in this process cuz this is a. big operation that I'm getting ready to. do. >> The day before the surgery, the filing. says that Dr. Torc met with Tussy for a. final time to go over the surgery in. detail about possible complications, expectations for post-op care, recovery, and Dr. Torc said that he met with Tussy.

and her husband in the pre-op area and. would visit the recovery room after the. surgery was completed. Now, I'm going to. stop right there. What that conversation. was about, what those possible. complications were, what was. communicated, that will potentially play. a role, an important role in this case. because sometimes you see in these cases. an assumption of the risk argument, you. know, look, this is risky, she. understood what the risks are, this is. what could happen, what was properly. communicated to her, what could be the. complications, what could be the.

realistic complications for her, something like this. So, just to keep in. mind. Now, the lawsuit states that the. surgery began at 8:14 a.m. the following. morning, but the surgeon didn't call. this a routine cosmetic procedure. >> I performed Rachel's surgery, a tummy tuck with 360 liposuction and an. umbilical hernia repair. This was not a. mommy makeover. The procedure lasted 9. hours and was completed without. complication. I approached her care with the same. precision and attention I give every.

patient. >> Jumping in again, if this proceeds. towards trial, okay, or even through. discovery, you know, the exchange of. material, exchange of evidence, the. defense will probably look into other. surgeries that Dr. Tork performed and. whether there were any issues associated. with that. I mean, I have to imagine. that's something they're going to do. And I'm not saying that there are any. issues, but putting my legal cap on, defense cap on, I have to imagine that's. something they're going to do. Now, the filing says, quote, "Mrs. Tork. required low pain medications dosages.

during the surgery. For the entire. duration of the surgery, Mrs. Tork. received 100 micrograms of Fentanyl and. 0.5 milligrams of Dilaudid. Her low pain. medication dosage needs reflected Mrs. Tork's low opioid tolerance level.". >> I don't like pain medicine. >> This is important to keep in mind as we. go through this lawsuit. But, according. to Dr. Tork, surgery went well. Tork was. extubated. She was rolled into recovery. in the post-anesthesia care unit around.

5:15 p.m. Lawsuit claims that 30 minutes. later, Tork was alert. She was speaking. with her husband, the medical team, and. also Dr. Tork. And then by 5:49 p.m., Dr. Tork left the surgery center and. headed home. So, at this point, everything appeared to be fine, right? According to the surgeon, the procedure. was successful. Tork was alert while in. the recovery room. >> What happened next should have never. happened. >> So, what happened next? Well, the. lawsuit states, quote, "At 5:55 p.m., 6.

minutes later, while Dr. Tork was. driving home and less than 2 to 3 miles. away from the surgery center, he. received a call from a JourneyLite. post-anesthesia care unit and recovery. nurse. The nurse told Dr. Tork that Mrs. Tork had become hypoxic, meaning she's. not getting enough oxygen, and quote, "unresponsive", and that EMS had been. called. When asked if Mrs. Tork had been. given anything before the acute change, the nurse told Dr. Tork she'd been given. 150 micrograms of Fentanyl and 0.5.

milligrams of Dilaudid right after Dr. Tork left the facility. >> The level of speed of narcotics. administered during Rachel's recovery. were extraordinary and dangerous. I. think. anyone in this room. can conclude that if you give 150 of. fentanyl. and 0.5 of Dilaudid within minutes, what do you think is going to happen to. that person? >> Now, keep in mind the lawsuit claims. that the surgical center gave Tussi 50.

micrograms more of fentanyl in post-op. than she originally received for the. entire duration of the 9-hour surgery. And remember in the filing, Tussi was. said to have a low opioid tolerance. level. Again, this is his allegations, but that's going to be an important. point here, which would explain why the. surgeon would ask if anything was given. to her before she apparently had this. medical emergency. Now, the suit says. that Dr. Tork told the nurses to. immediately treat Tussi with Narcan. This is a drug that's used to treat. opioid overdoses, but the nurses said. she already gave her one. So, Dr. Tork.

advised the nurse to give her another. dose. And Dr. Tork claims when he. arrived back at the facility, two nurses. were working on Tussi in the post-op. anesthesia care unit. And according to. the suit, quote, "A second nurse, nurse. number one, remember this, nurse number. one, was attempting to use a bag mask on. Mrs. Tussi. Mrs. Tussi was not. breathing. The nurse did not have a. proper seal on the bag mask. Mrs. Tussi's chest did not rise. Dr. Tork. asked for a stethoscope, but they did.

not have one. Mrs. Tussi was in. bradycardia, slow heartbeat, and she was. hypoxic. She was unresponsive. Emergency. medical services arrived. Dr. Tork told. the EMS he could not detect a pulse. The. emergency squad placed Mrs. Tussi onto a. gurney and transported her to the back. of the ambulance. And the suit claims. that Tussi was re-intubated, rushed to. Bethesda North Hospital. Dr. Tork. apparently entered the emergency. department bay to see her. By that time. though, according to this lawsuit, Tussi.

had coded again, and she was given CPR. by the emergency team. And the filing. continues the emergency team was able to. restore circulation, but it was already. too late. Mrs. Tussi was brain dead. Mrs. Tussi had suffered an anoxic brain. injury in the Journey Light post. anesthesia care unit after the nurse. gave her too much fentanyl and Dilaudid. causing an opioid overdose. And the suit. says that 18 days later, March 17th, Tussi passed away in hospice care.

According to the lawsuit, Tussi's cause. of death was evaluated by providers at. Bethesda North Hospital. They allegedly. determined Mrs. Tussi suffered an anoxic. brain injury caused by lack of oxygen to. her brain following an opioid overdose. and subsequent acute respiratory. failure. The Bethesda North providers. ruled out other causes of Mrs. Tussi's. death including causes that can result. from surgical complications. >> Rachel's death was completely. unnecessary.

and caused by a Journey Light nurse. recklessly overdosing Rachel on. narcotics and by Journey Light. anesthesiologist abandoning their. patient. I cannot express enough condolences for. the Tussi family and no words can. capture the weight of this loss. Rachel's death is something I will carry. with me for the rest of my life. >> So, based on the allegations in this. lawsuit, the post-op nurses caring for. Tussi made a fatal mistake by. administering these drugs at the speed. and quantity that they did, but that is.

not all the surgeon claims contributed. to her death. What do I mean? Quote, Journey Light nurses failed to properly. respond to the overdose. Dana Miller, one of the nurses listed in the suit, did not call 911 until 5:59 p.m., 4. minutes after she told Dr. Tork that a. 911 call had already been made. During. the 911 call, Miller expressed no. urgency. Further, Miller failed to. report that Mrs. Tussi had been given a. high dose of opioids or to provide any. detail on Mrs. Tussy's status beyond.

that a patient was unresponsive after. surgery by failing to inform the 911. dispatcher of the fentanyl and Dilaudid. Miller prevented EMS dispatch from. providing specific pharmacological. guidance or preparing the incoming. paramedics to immediately address the. overdose. Miller then declined medical. instructions from 911 dispatch simply. saying, "We will be okay until you all. get to us. Thank you." At that time. nurse number one was improperly using a. bag mask on Mrs. Tussy suffocating her.

As a result of the opioid overdose and. JourneyLite's failure to competently. respond to the overdose, Mrs. Tussy had. no oxygen to her brain for more than 6. minutes. That is the direct quoted. portion from the lawsuit. Again, his. allegations. But my gosh, if these claims are true, that is devastating. That is a lot of. time for the brain to go without oxygen. Very concerning statements made. Very. concerning about the drugs. And that is.

what the surgeon claims led to Tussy. eventually becoming brain dead. And the. allegation you can kind of see here is. that Miller was allegedly not being. transparent. That call with 911 is. obviously going to be by all accounts a. big part of this case, a big part of the. evidence. So we'll hear what exactly was. said and how. But here's an even more shocking claim. Quote, "Upon information and belief.". Meaning, we don't have the concrete. evidence yet to prove this, but during. the course of litigation we'll be able.

to establish this. So based on the. circumstances, quote, "JourneyLite staff. including nurse number one snowed. patients staying overnight by. administering higher dose ranges of pain. medications in order to keep the. patients asleep so that they would not. have to be bothered attending to patient. care." The JourneyLite nurses. administered an overdose of opioids to. Mrs. Tussy on the authority of Journey. Lite's phase one order sheet signed off. on as standing orders by a Journey Lite. anesthesia provider and anesthesia.

provider who left the building less than. 30 minutes into phase one. So, according. to this suit, the practice of snowing. patients with pain meds to avoid care. responsibilities was allegedly common. practice at the facility and the. anesthesia provider allegedly left the. facility earlier than they were supposed. to, which could have prevented something. like this from happening. So, now you're. talking about an alleged pattern here. and this lawsuit will potentially bring. in other alleged episodes and other. patients and you're establishing that.

connective tissue that it it wasn't just. maybe what we'll hear a little bit later. from a defense that this was just an. accident, this was just a tragedy, there's no way this could have been. prevented. Here you're saying you're. establishing an alleged chain of events, an alleged actions and mistakes that. show this could have been prevented, right? That's the allegation, that's the. argument. And during the course of. discovery, you're going to have an. exchange of material and evidence so the. practices and procedures are going to be. uncovered. Now, the suit also alleges.

that the same nurse accused of snowing. and improperly using a bag mask on Tussy. was fired previously for {quote}. incompetence and for failing to properly. monitor overnight and post anesthesia. care unit patients but was rehired by a. relative who then allegedly fired a. whistleblower about the nurse's actions. Again, allegations, not sure how they. know this or they're going to plan to. prove it but again, major allegation in. addition to everything else that has. been laid out on the part of the post-op.

staff. Now, all of this all of this is. in addition to something else. This is. where Dr. Torque claims that Journey. Lite allegedly tried to cover up their. errors while Tussy was in a vegetative. state. {quote} Dr. Beloskey, the. anesthesiologist, said to Dr. Tork, 'Quote, 100 of fentanyl was way too much. for her. She required 100 the whole. case.'" Dr. Tork then talked with Lisa. Sprong, a JourneyLite administrator, and.

Tracy Evans, JourneyLite's clinical. director. In that conversation, they. pointed to every possible reason except. an opioid overdose, trying to blame Mrs. Tussy's condition on pulmonary embolism. or lidocaine toxicity. They asked Dr. Tork to alter his operative note to. support their story. Dr. Tork refused. And there are other allegations included. in this lawsuit about covering the. situation up. I'm talking about the. surgical center allegedly switching out.

Tussy's nursing note with a more. detailed organized version with. different handwriting, a new phase one. order sheet allegedly fabricating when. and how much medication Tussy was given. in post-op recovery in order to justify. the dosages. And Dr. Tork also alleged. in the lawsuit that JourneyLite had, quote, "scrubbed the medical record to. erase any mention of nurse one's name or. her individual nursing notes." Remember. nurse one allegedly involved in the. medications and the bag mask. And also. that Dr. Tork claims he was asked a. second time to alter his operative note.

at the direction of JourneyLite's owner. and medical director, but he refused. After Dr. Tork refused to participate in. these alleged cover-up plans, he claims. JourneyLite continued to try to pin the. blame for their failures on him while. falsely claiming in public statements. through counsel that its actions were. well within the appropriate standards of. care, that the staff responded by. immediately implementing life-saving. protocols, and that state agencies found. no discrepancies or errors regarding. patient care or record keeping. So, this.

lawsuit also alleges that the same day. Tussy died, one of Dr. Tork's employees. received an email from JourneyLite. intended for a JourneyLite co-owner and. plastic surgeon, but instead sent to. this person stating, and this is big, that they were actively, quote, "purging. files." If they have this email, if that. email does in fact purport to show that, it's a problem for the defense. But, we don't know that for sure. We. don't know exactly, again, allegations.

They have not been found liable for. anything. These are just claims. These. are just allegations. They're going to. have the opportunity to defend. themselves, and you'll hear what their. whatever response has been so far. But, now that we've gone through the. allegations from this filing, here is. what Dr. Tork's team is suing for, because you might be saying, well, what. is his harm in all of this, okay? What. what are his damages? So, the first. element, the first cause of action that. he's suing for is breach of contract, that there was this contract between Dr. Tork and Journey Light. Now, from my.

reading of the complaint, it doesn't. appear that there was a written. contract, per se, but as he. characterizes it, it was one based on. clinical privileges and a course of. conduct and practice and pattern. So, as. a point of law, that could be trickier. to establish that there's a contract. It's harder if you don't have a written. agreement that lays out the duties and. the obligations and what breach is and. what remedies are. But, the basic idea. here is that Dr. Tork is claiming, "Look, I brought my patients to you. You. promised to provide appropriate care and. services and equipment. Here, there was.

an offer. There was an acceptance of. that offer with respect to Tussi's. care." So, key elements in whether there. was a legally binding contract. And the. allegation is that Journey Light failed. in its obligations. And also, there was. a claim that Journey Light breached what. we call in the law covenant of good. faith and fair dealing. It's basically a. promise to act in good faith and engage. in fair dealing by allegedly scrubbing. nurse one's info and making these false. statements. And then there's this, quote, "It was foreseeable to Journey.

Light and Dr. Tork that any breach of. Journey Light's obligation to provide. qualified and competent staff and. appropriate care in the post anesthesia. care unit could lead to a catastrophic. outcome for Dr. Tork's patient and cause. damage to Dr. Tork and his practice. including reputational harm, economic. loss, and loss of patients. As a result. of JourneyLite's breach, Dr. Tork and. his practice have suffered damages. including reputational harm, economic. loss, and loss of patients. So, that.

would be interesting to explore what was. the effect on him after this tragedy. What did he lose? What did he suffer? It's an element of causation, too, right? Because of what you did, this. happened. You're talking a direct. connection. Just key important legal. principles to be thinking about. Count. two, promissory estoppel. So, this is a. legal principle, legal doctrine that. allows someone to sue to recover damages. if they reasonably relied on a promise. So, even if you don't have a formal. contract, you reasonably relied on a.

promise to your detriment. Quote, "Dr. Tork relied on this promise when he. conducted Mrs. Tussy's surgery at the. JourneyLite Surgery Center on Wednesday, February 25th, 2026. JourneyLite broke. its promise by failing to provide. qualified and competent post anesthesia. care unit staff for Mrs. Tussy's care. causing her death as a direct and. proximate result of Dr. Tork's reliance. on JourneyLite's broken promises, Dr. Tork and his practice suffered damages.

including but not limited to. reputational harm, economic loss, and. loss of patients." When you talk about. proximate harm, it's like this is the. direct harm, there was no intervening. cause, this is what happened. Another. cause of action is breach of fiduciary. duty. So, this occurs when a person or. entity is in a position of trust, trustee, corporate director, agent, things like that, fails to act in the. best interests of another party. They. sometimes they act in self-interest, right? That's the allegation. Quote, "Because JourneyLite had control of the.

anesthesia providers at its facility, Dr. Tork had to place his trust and. confidence in Journey Light and. associated anesthesiologist to provide. competent anesthesia care during surgery. and in recovery. Journey Light breached. its duty when it rehired an unqualified. and incompetent nurse based on nepotism. and placed that nurse in the post. anesthesia care unit. Journey Light and. associated anesthesiologist breached. their duties when the anesthesia. providers abandoned Mrs. Tussi before. the end of phase one of post surgery.

care and while she was still in the post. anesthesia care unit. And this claim. also included the cover-up allegations. on the part of Journey Light staff along. with their alleged efforts to seemingly. or allegedly put blame on Dr. Tork for. what happened to Tussi. Then you got. this claim for negligent hiring, retention, and supervision. Now, negligence, the idea here is that. Journey Light owed Dr. Tork a duty. He. entrusted them with his patients. That's. where the duty was established. And when. you talk negligence, the the elements. that you have to prove are duty, breach.

of that duty, causation of the harm, and. that there was harm and damages. Quote, Journey Light negligently rehired and. retained Sprong's relative, nurse one, an unqualified and incompetent nurse. Journey Light negligently assigned nurse. one to the post anesthesia care unit. where she was not qualified or competent. to provide care. Journey Light's. knowledge of nurse one's incompetence is. evidenced by its post-incident conduct, specifically the intentional omission of. her name and individual record from the. patient's medical charts and the.

subsequent purging of her personnel. file. Journey Light further acted. negligently by failing to provide. mandatory equipment required for safe. supervision of post operative patients. I talked before about what they. allegedly didn't have. The final count, spoliation of evidence. I think you can. see where we're going with this. Quote, Journey Light knew that litigation over. Mrs. Tussi's death was probable and that. litigation likely would involve both Dr. Tork, his practice, and Journey Light. Journey Light altered and destroyed. portions of Mrs. Tussy's patient records.

including the nursing note and the. original phase one orders. Now, this. count also mentions the allegations of, you know, concealing nurse one's. identity by removing her records, Journey Light's efforts to essentially. or allegedly smear Dr. Torque over. Tussy's procedure after he refused to. participate in what he calls this. alleged cover-up. So, Dr. Torque and his. surgical center, they're asking for. compensatory damages in an amount in. excess of $25,000 for each claim in the. complaint meaning restore him back to. the position he was in before all of.

this happened along with punitive. damages. This is an amount to be. determined at trial. These are. punishment damages for really bad. egregious behavior. Can be quite costly, can get up there. And also lawyer's fees. Now, the surgeon. mentioned in the suit that Tussy's. family will likely file a suit of their. own. >> Somebody dropped the ball here. But, I will tell you one thing, where. they brought us, these people are. absolutely freaking amazing. They have.

been amazing with my wife. But, it still doesn't change the fact. that somebody dropped the ball and. killed my wife. By the way, I'm still out all the money for the. surgery. >> So, attorneys from Monney, Ellis and. Lane representing Tussy's family issued. the following statement following the. lawsuit that was filed by Dr. Torque and. it says, quote, "First and foremost, our. thoughts remain with Ms. Tussy's family. as they continue to mourn a profound and.

irreplaceable loss. The Monney, Ellis. and Lane legal team is currently focused. on a thorough and methodical. investigation into the circumstances. surrounding Rachel Tussy's death. This. process is intended not only to. determine what occurred, but to ensure. that any individuals or entities found. to be responsible are held appropriately. accountable. In response to Dr. Torque's. allegations shared at the press. conference, money Allison Lane attorneys. are filing temporary restraining orders. to enjoin JourneyLite and associated. anesthesiologist of Springfield Inc.

From further destroying, fabricating, or. deleting evidence as it pertains to this. case. Our firm is prepared to pursue. aggressive legal action to seek. appropriate remedies on behalf of the. family. According to a report from local. 12 news out in Cincinnati, an attorney. for JourneyLite released the following. statement in response to the lawsuit. Quote, "It is unfortunate and somewhat. shocking that Dr. Torx claims to be the. victim here due apparently to the loss. of his reputation in a case where the.

Tussy family tragically lost Rachel. JourneyLite had Miss Tussy's chart. reviewed independently by a. board-certified anesthesiologist and a. board-certified forensic pathologist. With regards to the medications given in. the PACU by the JourneyLite nurses, the. doses of fentanyl and Dilaudid were 100%. appropriate and administered within the. standard of care. Anesthesia experts. describe 100 micrograms of fentanyl as. baby doses and appropriate for pain. relief. Further, her sudden. unresponsiveness in the PACU was not.

opioid-related as multiple doses of. Narcan administered to Miss Tussy had no. effect whatsoever. The Ohio Board of. Pharmacy audited JourneyLite's. medication records and Miss Tussy's. chart in the aftermath of this case and. found no evidence of any errors or. wrongdoing. JourneyLite made multiple. requests to the Tussy family through. their family that an autopsy be. conducted after Rachel's passing so that. the cause of death could be determined. The family refused our request so the. true cause of her death will likely.

never be known. Pathology experts will. opine that 50 to 60% of suspicious. deaths later turn out to be sudden. cardiac death which is not a myocardial. infarction. Pulmonary embolism or fat. embolism cannot be ruled out either as. the CPR chest compressions will break up. and move any clot to the peripheral. vessels. JourneyLite conveyed all of. these potential causes to the Tussie. family through their attorney, but the. family again refused to follow an. autopsy. Both PACU nurses staffed at. JourneyLite had years of experience,

were ACLS certified, former ER nurses in. local Cincinnati hospital emergency. rooms, and had participated in hundreds. of codes. They both undertook heroic. measures to try to save Rachel's life. JourneyLite flatly denies that any. records were altered or purged, and any. allegations that they attempted to cover. up Rachel's case are false and. defamatory. By the way, point of law, you can't really sue Dr. Tork, let's say. for defamation, for strictly the lawsuit.

for the claims in the lawsuit. The law. prevents that, otherwise it would chill. anybody from filing a lawsuit. However, potentially anything that is said. outside of a lawsuit, like in an. interview or in a press conference, that. potentially could be fair game. Just a. point of law. Now, in terms of Dr. Tork's lawsuit, look, we're in the early. stages. It's very difficult to ascertain. what is happening, how this happened. Dr. Tork lays out his allegations. On. one hand, you could say compelling. narrative, but we have to see what the. evidence is. And the defendant has their. own version right now, right? Their own.

defense, that there was no deviation. from the standard of care. That the. cause of death is going to be an issue. You may see a battle of experts as to. what caused the death here. And in the. end, this could be a case of someone. being held responsible or this was a. tragic accident. Difficult to say. We. laid out the allegations. We'll continue. to follow it. It's all we have for you. right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcast. You can also. check us out on NBC's Peacock as well.

If you want to follow me, X, Instagram, my NewsNation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll [music] see you next time, everybody. >> Mhm.