Accused in wrongful death lawsuit, surgeon now faces disciplinary charges

A Decatur County surgeon who is accused in a lawsuit of wrongful death is now facing disciplinary charges of incompetence.

The Iowa Board of Medicine announced Tuesday that on Jan. 14, 2026, it charged Dr. Edwin Vincent Wehling of Leon with professional incompetence and with practicing in manner that is harmful or detrimental to the public.

The board has not disclosed any information as to the conduct that gave rise to the charges or indicated when or where the alleged conduct took place. A board hearing on the disciplinary charges is scheduled for Sept. 24-25, 2026.

Board records indicate Wehling has worked as a surgeon at Decatur County Hospital in Leon.

Lawsuit alleges bowel perforation and death 

Wehling and the hospital are currently defendants, along with registered nurses Brandi Oesch and Tammy Roberts, in a medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit brought by the estate of the late Laura Belt of Wayne County.

According to the lawsuit, Wehling attempted to surgically repair Belt’s hernia on April 30, 2024. By the time she was discharged from the hospital a week later, Belt had a large amount of drainage from the surgical incision and was reported in medical records to be “very uncomfortable overall” and “very anxious and tearful,” the lawsuit claims.

On the day of her discharge, medical charts allegedly indicated she had not had a bowel movement since the surgical procedure a week earlier.

On May 9, 2024, Belt was experiencing “significant amounts of feculent, brown liquid pouring from her surgical incision,” the lawsuit alleges, and so she texted a photo of the site to Roberts at the hospital.

The lawsuit claims Roberts texted back, “Consulted with Brandi, she states all is normal … Brandi stated incision will drain like this for at least a month.”

The lawsuit alleges that the next day, with brown fluid still pouring from the wound, Belt had a video-call conversation with Oesch, who observed the discharge and failed to advise Belt to seek emergency medical care.

On May 11, 2024, Belt allegedly arrived at the Wayne County Hospital’s Emergency Department via ambulance. Upon arrival, her incision site was noted to show signs of dead, necrotic tissue along with “constant drainage” of stool, and she was diagnosed as being in septic shock related to an infection stemming from hernia repair, the lawsuit claims.

Lawsuit alleges ‘back-charted’ medical records

On May 13, 2024, Oesch allegedly added a back-charted entry into Belt’s electronic medical record at Decatur County Hospital, describing the May 10, 2024, video call and indicating Belt was crying during the call and noting that during the call fluid had spilled out of her wound onto the bathroom floor.

The lawsuit alleges Oesch also back-charted: “This nurse advised I would call Dr. Wehling and advise. This nurse notified Dr. Wehling and he requested (the antibiotic) Bactrim to be started.” No Bactrim prescription was actually ordered, the lawsuit claims.

Also on May 13, 2024, the lawsuit alleges, Oesch back-charted that she had engaged in extensive examination of Belt’s surgical wound prior to Belt’s discharge six days earlier and had educated Belt on the signs and symptoms of infection to report.

Belt died on May 15, 2024, allegedly due to complications associated with a bowel perforation that led to sepsis.

The defendants in the case have denied any wrongdoing, with Wehling alleging the cause of Belt’s injuries “may have been a pre-existing medical condition and/or a subsequently occurring medical condition for which (he) is not responsible.”

A trial is scheduled for Aug. 23, 2027.