Three Jefferson County sisters are suing over claims their mother died from complications after surgery at a Beaumont hospital.
April Blanchard, individually and as representative of the estate of Sharon Peltier, deceased, Laurel Crain and Krystal Wilcox filed a lawsuit March 26 in the Jefferson County District Court against Dr. Jerome Francis Schrapps citing medical malpractice.
According to the complaint, on March 26, 2012, Peltier was treated by Dr. Schrapps at Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth for the purpose of removing a gastric band in her stomach for the purpose of considering other weight loss procedures in the future.
The lawsuit says after failing to locate the gastric band, Dr. Schrapps stapled Peltier's stomach without written consent, which caused a gastric leak requiring further surgery on March 29, 2012.
Peltier died after the development of sepsis on April 5, 2012, according to the suit.
Blanchard, Crain and Wilcox are seeking more than $1 million in damages.
They are being represented in the case by Beaumont attorneys Collin Cobb of Harris Duesler & Hatfield LLP and Barry C. Bennet of Bennet Legal PC.
Jefferson County District Court Case No. D195-529
This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Jefferson County District Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.