Patient Dies After Hospital Asks Wrong Family About Removing Life Support

One man died after he was taken off life assist when he was misidentified as his hospital roommate at a Vancouver, Wash., hospital in the summertime of 2021, per the Miami Herald and KGW.

David Wells died on Aug. 9, 2021, after his hospital roommate, Michael Beehler’s household, permitted the removing of Beehler from his life assist on Aug. 8, 2021, at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash.

Wells, who was 69, arrived on the Vancouver medical facility by way of ambulance on Aug. 8, 2021, after he choked on a bit of steak, grew to become unconscious and stopped respiration. Then, Wells was incorrectly recognized as Beehler, and the hospital contacted Beehler’s sister, Debbie Danielson, to resolve whether or not the “brain dead” affected person would stay on life assist, Danielson instructed KGW.

After she made the troublesome determination to finish the lifetime of who she thought was her brother, she grieved him, wrote his obituary for the newspaper and organized his funeral. But then she discovered Beehler was alive when he referred to as her.

“I said, ‘You can’t be alive. You’re dead!’ ” Danielson recalled for KGW.

The siblings reported the incident to authorities. Additionally, the Clark County Medical Examiner (CCME) retrieved Wells’ physique and used fingerprints to substantiate he was not Beehler. Soon, the CCME notified Wells’ son, Shawn Wells.

“They basically told me there was a medical emergency regarding my father. He had been pronounced dead,” Shawn instructed KGW, alleging he was not knowledgeable concerning the misidentification of his father’s physique by the health worker, the hospital, or the funeral house.

Shawn didn’t be taught of the misidentification till the 2023 KGW report, in keeping with a earlier separate lawsuit. “I’m at a loss for words how badly they handled this,” Shawn stated, per KGW. “I’ll never be able to get that decision back.” 

After the 2023 information report, the Washington Department of Health investigated the incident and located a number of violations. The hospital didn’t “develop a process to ensure staff were trained to verify patient identification,” “provide supervision of staff tasked with verifying patient identification” and “have a reliable method to identify each patient presenting for care.”

Neither violation garnered citations as a result of the hospital enacted the mandatory enhancements, per the investigation.

Shawn, Beehler and Danielson are suing the hospital for negligence and inflicting extreme emotional misery, in keeping with the Miami Herald. They are additionally suing the CCME, American Medical Response Ambulance, and All County Cremation and Burial for negligence in a separate swimsuit.

The hospital issued an announcement to McClatchy News: “PeaceHealth has worked diligently to strengthen our patient identification processes, which has included continued collaboration with multiple community agencies involved in healthcare, including EMS.” 

“Given that PeaceHealth is involved in litigation, it is unfortunate we are unable to share more facts about this situation,” the assertion continued. “Our unwavering commitment of caring for our community remains stronger than ever.” 

Additionally, an organization spokeswoman, Debra Carnes, acknowledged that the alleged incident occurred through the top of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Representatives for PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, American Medical Response Ambulance Service, Inc., CMEE, All County Cremation and Burial and the plaintiffs’ attorneys didn’t instantly reply to PEOPLE’s request for touch upon Tuesday.