A hospital facility has been fined $10,000 for mistakenly pronouncing a woman dead in Iowa.
Upon checking on the 66-year-old patient at the Glen Oaks Alzheimer’s Special Care Center in Urbandale, Iowa, where she had been admitted for early onset dementia in late December, the nurse at the hospice care facility in Iowa was certain that she had passed away.
However, after the patient was placed in a body bag and taken to a funeral home, she woke up, gasping for air.
The funeral home quickly unzipped the body bag and called 911 and the hospice, as the patient was in distress and desperately trying to breathe.
According to a report from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, the nurse had felt that the patient had died as there were no signs of life.
The hospice care facility has received a fine of $10,000, the maximum penalty under Iowa law, for mistakenly declaring the 66-year-old patient dead.
The patient was transferred to a hospital after EMS personnel recorded her pulse but observed no other movement or response.
Despite this, two days later, the woman passed away with her family by her side at the hospice facility on January 5th, according to a state report released on Wednesday.
The report stated that the hospice care facility failed to provide appropriate care and services, and did not ensure that the patient received dignified treatment at the end of her life.
