Lawsuits filed over allegations of dirty surgical tools, patient infections and defamation

An Idaho-based neurosurgeon and a local medical supply representative have filed separate-but-related lawsuits against Portneuf Medical Center (PMC) over alleged incidents of unsterilized surgical equipment being used during patient care. 

Both the doctor, Jonathan Morgan, MD and Dallin Caudle, the medical device consultant, claim PMC retaliated against them when they reported sterilization procedure issues at the facility—an issue that journalists at the Idaho State Journal said was confirmed in an investigation last year. 

When looking at specific incidents, the Department of Health and Welfare found evidence that human tissue was still on surgical instruments after cleaning. 

PMC attributed the incidents to a lack of proper training on how to sterilize vendor trays—something investigators found to have been remedied. The health system was not formally cited with any deficiency.

The health department released a report detailing its findings in September 2025. 

Morgan and Caudle disagree with some of the agency’s conclusions. In their complaints, they point to a systemic issue at PMC of officials blocking safety testing. The Idaho State Journal said multiple administrators at PMC are named in the lawsuit as defendants, as is the hospital’s parent company, Ardent Health Partners.

The plaintiffs allege defendants also defamed them when they raised concerns over patient safety violations. 

A disputed timeline 

In his lawsuit Morgan alleged that patient-safety failures began in late 2019, when broken equipment began going unfixed. He claimed the hospital entered into a financially motivated “earn-out” agreement with a supplier that left staff feeling pressured to use specific implants regardless of patient need, and in some cases those devices were becoming contaminated. 

By 2021–2022, Morgan said he observed a sharp rise in post-operative infections which coincided with him seeing more visibly dirty instruments. He said he raised concerns to hospital leadership, but their primary focus was that he continue performing elective surgeries to meet revenue targets. 

In his lawsuit, Caudle affirmed some of the above. Both he and Morgan claimed that PMC leadership actively blocked efforts to confirm whether or not instruments, after being reprocessed per vendor instructions, were contaminated with microbials. 

Cultures that could confirm or alleviate worries over dangerous trays used for instruments were repeatedly canceled, both plaintiffs said. Both also allege that eventually, testing showed that dangerous bacteria were making its way onto surgical tools. Caudle added that results showed that roughly 70% of all instrument pans were compromised. 

Morgan said contamination matched incidents of infection experienced by patients. 

Both further allege that, as safety issues persisted, hospital leadership diverted the blame to staff. The surgeon was accused of failing to follow hygiene procedures, and the supplier said his competence was called into question and he eventually lost access to PMC altogether. 

Morgan eventually withdrew his surgical privileges voluntarily in July 2025, something he said he felt forced to do, with the alleged patient safety concerns left unaddressed.

The hospital declined to respond to the Idaho State Journal’s request for comment, saying that it does not respond to pending litigation. Both lawsuits are still pending. 

For a lot more, read Idaho State Journal’s full feature at the link below.