Family of Jessie Peterson, 31, spent a year searching for her before learning hospital had shipped body to storage facility

Jessie Peterson’s family spent a year searching for her after they were told that she had checked herself out of a California hospital against medical advice – before they learned that she had been dead all along.

The 31-year-old died in the care of Mercy San Juan medical center in Sacramento in April 2023. The hospital shipped her body to a storage facility and did not inform her mother and sisters. The family only learned her fate the following April after months of trying to find her, according to a civil lawsuit against the hospital.

In the lawsuit, filed earlier this month, the family described the hospital’s conduct as “malicious and outrageous” and accused the facility of negligence, the negligent handling of a corpse and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

  • exanime@lemmy.world
    0·
    1 month ago

    I’ve worked IT systems for hospitals my entire career; this Hospital franchise uses Epic Systems as their EMR, I know it well, I have like 7 certs for Epic System modules. There is a TON of paperwork associated with a discharge against medical advice since the hospitals definitely want to cover their butts in such cases.

    There is ZERO chance the hospital mixed her release as leaving against medical advice and/or have the documentation to back that up. Even if the person just sneaks out of the hospital, that is considered a “code” alert (colour depends on the hospital) until they can determine the patient is not in danger to themselves or others. Again, ZERO chance this happened without more than one person knowingly falsifying records… best I can imagine to give the Hospital the benefit of doubt, is criminal negligence

    Moreover, death in hospitals and handling (as in moving and storing) of human remains has an even bigger avalanche of regulations and documentation, all of which would have to be completely missing for them not to notice.

    • OutsizedWalrus@lemmy.world
      01·
      1 month ago

      Your analysis fails to account for the human element involved. The person putting the records in may have made assumptions .