(Image via dignitymemorial.com)
Staff Writer: Sakara De Gil-Balija
Email: sdegilbalija@umassd.edu
On Saturday, February 4th, 2023, a woman whose name has not been released to the public yet, was wrongfully pronounced dead at Water’s Edge Rehab and Nursing Center.
The 82-year-old woman was the second case in a week to have been wrongfully declared dead.
The Long Island nursing home was extremely confused to learn that, less than an hour after she was taken to O.B. Davis Funeral Home, she was still breathing.
The woman was pronounced dead at 11:15 AM on Saturday but was found to be breathing once again around 2:09 PM.
“This is an awful situation that has caused unnecessary trauma for the impacted resident and her loved ones,” a spokesperson for the AG’s office told PEOPLE.
“The Office of the Attorney General is looking into the incident.”
Medical staff cannot confirm if there was an error made in the process of declaring her deceased or if a medical condition made her appear to be.
There are certain conditions that would make one appear to be deceased. These conditions include Lazarus Syndrome, hypothermia, and a plethora of pills and cold water.
Early that week, a 66-year-old woman was also pronounced dead in an Iowa nursing home when she was also still alive. According to the New York Post, the woman was found in a body bag “gasping for air.”
When 911 was called, she was placed back in a care center, where she died two days later, on February 5th. The nursing home was fined $10,000 for their mistake.
The executive director of the care center, Lisa Eastman, says, “we care deeply for our residents and remain fully committed to supporting their end-of-life care. All employees undergo regular training so they can best support end-of-life care and the death of our residents.”
The case has been reported to the State Attorney General’s Office for investigation.
Cases like these are especially important because of the danger involved in them. The medical process that takes place at a morgue is one that would be surely traumatizing to someone if they were alive, never mind the risks it proposes to a very much alive person.