An elderly woman in the United States nearly died in the morgue after being erroneously declared dead, a report that drew national attention after coverage by a major newspaper. The incident unfolded at an Alzheimer’s care center in Iowa in early January and soon became a stark example of how misidentification of death can have fatal consequences if not caught in time.
What happened, according to records obtained from those familiar with the case, is that center officials concluded the woman had died. The body was subsequently moved to a funeral home, and when staff there opened the bag to begin processing, they discovered the patient was alive, narrowly escaping a fatal outcome while inside the morgue container. This moment highlighted serious gaps in the center’s procedures for confirming death before releasing a person to a funeral home.
The patient, a 66-year-old woman who has lived at the facility since 2021, has been diagnosed with a form of senile brain degeneration. Her condition had been declining over recent months. On the morning of January 3, a staff member found the patient unresponsive, and after speaking with a nurse, the team announced the patient had died. With that determination, they contacted the woman’s daughter and obtained permission to transport the body to the funeral home for disposition. The episode forced a pause on the planned arrangements as officials reassessed the situation within the hospice context.
Following rescue from the morgue, the patient was treated for hypothermia and respiratory failure at the hospital where she had been taken. The medical team noted the patient’s preference to forego resuscitation, and she was subsequently returned to the hospice setting, where she passed away two days later. The center faced a financial penalty, receiving a $10,000 fine for errors in death detection and the subsequent mismanagement of the body’s handling.
The case has prompted broader discussion about safeguarding procedures in elder care facilities and the need for robust death verification processes to prevent similar tragedies. Legal and regulatory bodies have been urged to review protocols to ensure that when a death is claimed, multiple independent confirmations are documented and cross-checked before any release of a body to a funeral home or similar facility.
In a separate historical note, reports have referenced another incident in which a Russian woman learned, years after her daughter’s death, that there had been a bureaucratic error in the initial determination of death. This comparison underscores the lasting emotional impact and potential for miscommunication in death determinations and subsequent actions. (Source: major national coverage and subsequent references.)