Florida woman suffers brain damage after allegedly given overdose of fentanyl during dental visit: report

A Miami woman was left with brain damage and 24-hour care after she was allegedly given a large dose of fentanyl during an “unnecessary” dental surgery in Texas, according to a lawsuit. 

Maria Lugo Querales nearly died during the May 10, 2022, dental procedure in Marble Falls, Texas, after undergoing anesthesia from Dr. Jerry Teague. Lugo’s husband, Luis Espana, is accusing Teague of administering excessive amounts of anesthesia drugs without intubating her first, the New York Post reported. 

Also named in the civil lawsuit are other dentists involved in the surgery; Dr. Lane Freeman and Dr. Stuart Nunnally, and their dentist clinic, Nunnally, Freeman and Owens. 

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Lugo originally visited the dental practice in Florida to undergo a procedure for “alleged ‘cavitations’ and the extraction of an asymptomatic root canal-treated tooth,” the lawsuit alleges. She was treated with fentanyl, the sedative midazolam, and the anesthetic lidocaine, the San Antonio Express-News reported, citing a police report. 

Teague, who worked as an anesthesiologist at the Texas clinic, administered the drugs to Lugo a day after he went missing and failed to return after an evening walk, the Post report said. His wife said he had recently been diagnosed with cancer and had less than a year to live, the lawsuit states. 

Teague went to work the next day. 

Lugo was his only patient that day and neither Teague nor the other dentists received her informed consent for the anesthesia, the lawsuit alleges. Teague failed to intubate Lugo, and she overdosed on the anesthesia drugs, the court filings said.

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The scheduled dental surgery was canceled as Lugo was rushed by paramedics to St. David’s Medical Center in Austin. Teague died two weeks later from cancer. He was 70. 

He was suspended in 2016, and then barred from practicing medicine by the State Board of Dental Examiners for three years after his hair follicle tested positive for fentanyl and midazolam. His suspension ended in 2019, and he was hired by the Marble Falls clinic. 

Lugo currently lives in a Florida neurological rehabilitation facility where she breathes through a tracheotomy and is fed through a tube.

She sought treatment at the Texas clinic after watching a YouTube video where Dr. Ludwig Johnson, an Instagram influencer with 1.9 million followers, featured the Austin-area practice. 

“They told the audience that ‘cavitations’ are wounds in the mouth where teeth have been pulled, such as wisdom teeth, where toxicity can rival that of a gangrenous wound,” according to Espana’s recent court filing.

Espana is seeking unspecified damages from the dental clinic after reaching a confidential settlement with Teague’s estate last month.