A lawsuit filed in California in August 2024 by the family of a woman who died in a California hospital alleges that they were not told that their family member had died in the hospital, and that her body was misplaced into cold strorage for one year. The lawsuit reportedly alleges that the 31-year-old woman died in April 2023 at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, California after which the family was told that their family member had left the hospital on her own volition.
The woman had a medical history of having Type I diabetes since the age of 10. On April 6, 2023, she was admitted to Mercy San Juan Medical Center after having a diabetic episode; she had been treated at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in the past for complications related to her diabetes. She telephoned her mother two days later from the hospital, requesting that her mother pick her up.
Within two hours after she spoke with her mother, the woman suffered cardiac arrest as a result of diabetic ketoacidosis, and died. According to the family’s lawsuit, the hospital failed to contact them regarding the woman’s death. On April 11, 2023, the woman’s mother was allegedly advised by the hospital that her daughter had left the hospital against medical advice. The family engaged in an extensive months-long search for their family member, including searching homeless shelters, posting missing person flyers, and filing a missing person report with the county and the California Department of Justice.
The family alleges in their lawsuit that on April 12, 2024, a detective called the woman’s mother and advised her that her daughter’s body was found in a warehouse morgue at Mercy San Juan Medical Center. The state of her body was such that an autopsy could not be conducted to determine the cause of death or whether medical malpractice contributed to her death, according to the family’s lawsuit.
The lawsuit names Dignity Health as defendant and alleges the defendants’ negligent handling of a corpse, infliction of emotional distress, and violation of California health and safety codes. The lawsuit reportedly states: “While a patient that doesn’t survive may be just another lifeless body to Mercy San Juan hospital, Jessie was a family member, daughter, and sister, all of whom deserved the dignity and respect Mercy San Juan grossly failed to provide. Even to this day, the hospital has not apologized to Jessie’s family members.”
If you or a family member were injured (or worse) as a result of medical malpractice in California or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a California medical malpractice attorney, or a medical malpractice attorney in your state, who may investigate your medical medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your family member in a medical medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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