A man was taken off life support after he was mistaken for someone else — his roommate, according to a lawsuit against a Washington hospital.
PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver consulted with the wrong family over the phone about whether to keep him on life support, the lawsuit filed in Clark County says.
The patient, David Wells, arrived at the hospital in an ambulance after he choked on a piece of steak at dinner, became unconscious and stopped breathing Aug. 8, 2021, according to a complaint filed in early December.
“Somewhere along the line, Mr. Wells was incorrectly identified as his roommate, plaintiff Michael Beehler,” the complaint says.
The hospital, which believed Wells was Beehler, called Beehler’s sister Debbie Danielson to make a “life-or-death” decision, according to the complaint.
“They said he’s basically brain dead,” Danielson told KGW, which first reported on the incident. “Do you want us to keep him on life support, or do you want to pull the plug?”
She made the “difficult choice” to take him off life support, according to the complaint, which says she then began grieving her brother’s death.
A “shocking discovery” followed, the complaint says.
Danielson learned Beehler was alive and they both called police, according to the complaint.
Afterward, Wells’ body was retrieved from a funeral home and identified by the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office, days after he died, according to the complaint.
Then Wells’ son, Shawn Wells, who lives in Monterey, California, was informed of his father’s death by the medical examiner’s office, the complaint says. David Wells was 60 when he died, KGW reported.
Now Shawn Wells, Danielson and Beehler are suing PeaceHealth for negligence and causing severe emotional distress, according to the complaint. The lawsuit was brought against the hospital after they filed a separate, related lawsuit.
The health care system said in a statement to McClatchy News on Jan. 10 that “PeaceHealth has worked diligently to strengthen our patient identification processes, which has included continued collaboration with multiple community agencies involved in healthcare, including EMS.”
“Given that PeaceHealth is involved in litigation, it is unfortunate we are unable to share more facts about this situation,” the statement continued. “Our unwavering commitment of caring for our community remains stronger than ever.”
A spokeswoman for the company, Debra Carnes, noted the alleged incident happened during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shawn Wells wasn’t told his father had been misidentified when the medical examiner’s office alerted him of his death, according to an earlier, separate lawsuit.
“They basically told me there was a medical emergency regarding my father. He had been pronounced dead,” he told KGW.
“I’m at a loss for words how badly they handled this,” Shawn Wells said. “I’ll never be able to get that decision back.”
Danielson learned her brother was alive when she got a call from him, according to KGW.
“I said, ‘You can’t be alive. You’re dead!” Danielson told the outlet.
At that point, she had informed family members of her brother’s death and made funeral arrangements, according to the latest lawsuit.
Danielson, Beehler and Shawn Wells first sued American Medical Response, Clark County and All County Cremation and Burial, the Vancouver funeral home where David Wells’ body was taken to.
AMR, the ambulance service that transported David Wells to PeaceHealth, is accused of misidentifying the 60-year-old.
The lawsuit says the funeral home and Clark County, through the medical examiner’s office, failed to “disclose the error” to Shawn Wells.
AMR and Clark County declined requests for comment from McClatchy News on Jan. 10. The county doesn’t comment on pending litigation, a spokeswoman said.
The earlier lawsuit also says the county medical examiner’s office never told Shawn Wells that his father’s “organs were donated against his wishes.”
PeaceHealth is also accused of misidentifying David Wells, according to the latest complaint.
Shawn Wells, Danielson and Beehler “suffered severe emotions; distress as a direct result of (PeaceHealth’s) extreme and outrageous conduct,” the complaint says.
Both lawsuits seek an unspecified amount in damages. Vancouver is a suburb north of Portland, Oregon.
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