A Washington hospital patient died when staff erroneously called the wrong family to ask whether or not they should keep him on life support.
The New York Post reports that David Wells died in August 2021 after choking on a piece of steak. He was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington.
Unfortunately, hospital staff mistakenly thought Wells was his hospital roommate, Mike Beehler. Because Wells was unconscious and not breathing, staff called a family member to ask whether he should remain on life support. They telephoned who they thought was his sister, but was actually Beehler’s sister, Debbie Danielson.
“They said, ‘He’s basically brain dead,’” Danielson told KGW. “’Do you want us to keep him on life support or do you want to pull the plug?’”
She then made the “difficult choice” to take her brother off life support. Then, a week later, Beehler—who was supposed to be dead—called her.
Danielson and her husband Gary realized they made a life-altering decision for someone they didn’t know. Wells’ son, Shawn, wouldn’t find out what really happened to his father until two years later after local news reporters reached out to him.
“They basically told me there was a medical emergency regarding my father. He had been pronounced dead,” Shawn Wells told KGW.
Shawn, Beehler, and Danielson are suing PeaceHealth Hospital for negligence and causing severe emotional distress. They’re also suing American Medical Response ambulance service for misidentifying the patient, a local funeral home, and the local medical examiner’s office for failing to disclose the error. The three are seeking an unknown amount in damages.
A PeaceHealth spokesperson told The Post that the hospital “has worked diligently to strengthen our patient identification processes, which has included continued collaboration with multiple community agencies involved in healthcare, including EMS.”