A man died after his life support was switched off by mistake after staff confused him with another patient.
David Wells, 69, was unconscious and not breathing when he was rushed to hospital after choking on a piece of steak in Vancouver, Washington, in August 2021.
He was placed on a life support at the PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Centre, and the mistake happened when staff confused him with another patient Mike Beehler.
And when an attempt to call the Wells family about making the difficult decision to switch off the life support was made, the sister of Mr Beehler, Debbie Danielson, was reportedly contacted in error.
“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?’” And faced with this reality she and her husband Gary agreed that it had to be done. It was only a week later when she got a call from her supposedly dead brother that she realised something was wrong.
“I said, ‘You can’t be alive. You’re dead!” Danielson recalled telling her brother. And then Gary added: “We made life-ending decisions for a person we don’t even know.” There was even a death notice published in the local newspaper which read: “Michael A. Beehler, 60, Vancouver, died August 9, 2021”.
Debbie told how she had to cope with the trauma of thinking her brother was dead and arranging his funeral. She said: “That whole week was kind of a blur. Trying to come up with funeral arrangements, letting family members know that he passed away.” It also emerged that Mr Beehler had only called his sister because his mobile phone had been deactivated by the family and he contacted them to sort it out.
While for David Wells’ son Shawn, he was devastated to find out the truth. He said: “I’m at a loss for words how badly they handled this. I’ll never be able to get that decision back. It’s something I’ll carry with me forever.” On top of this his father’s organs were donated against his wishes. He said: “It’s disturbing. They dropped the ball so egregiously. It would have been a very easily identifiable mark on his body.
“Even if there was any slight confusion about his identity, I think it would have been quickly resolved.” The families of Mr Wells and Mr Beehler are now reportedly suing PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center along with the ambulance service, funeral home, and Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office. They allege negligence and severe emotional distress.
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