Lawsuit Alleges Negligence in Virgin Islands Woman’s Death After Weight-Loss Surgery

The December 2023 death of 29-year old Virgin Islands resident Jade Barber was the result of negligence – some intentional – by the surgeon who botched her initial surgery for weight loss as well as follow-up procedures due to complications, a lawsuit by Ms. Barber's mother claims.

The civil complaint, filed on March 12 by attorney Lee Rohn on behalf of Susanne Darrow-Magras, Ms. Barber's mother and representative of her estate, accuses Dr. Gilbert Commissiong, a physician practicing in the territory, of failing to properly care for his patient from the very beginning of their relationship.

Ms. Barber first began seeing Dr. Commissiong in August 2023, the lawsuit states, expressing interest in receiving bariatric surgery – used to manage obesity via a number of techniques used individually or in combination with one another. At the time, Ms. Barber weighed 367 pounds.

According to the complaint, Dr. Commissiong failed to conduct sufficient due diligence on his patient, and also failed to explore alternatives to the invasive procedure. There was no attempt to place Ms. Barber on a clinically-supervised weight loss regimen, the lawsuit claims. Neither did Dr. Commissiong determine if an underlying eating disorder or other conditions could be contributing to Ms. Barber's condition. “Dr. Commission did not properly perform a detailed history and physical review of past medical history…complete screening for cardiac disease…and abdominal ultrasound,” the complaint alleges.

At a second visit in October 2023, Ms. Barber was 11 pounds lighter, and she was “tolerating her diet well.” However, “without waiting a sufficient time to see if the surgery was necessary,” Dr. Commissiong pressed ahead and sent Ms. Barber for “surgery prep clearance,” according to the lawsuit. A month later, Ms. Barber had dropped a further seven pounds, but the surgery was nevertheless scheduled for December 22, 2023, despite Dr. Commissiong's acknowledgement that Ms. Barber suffered from hypertension and depression.