A woman who was pronounced dead spent two hours in a body bag... before the workers at the funeral home realized that she was actually alive.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the family of Janet Balducci, an 82-year-old woman, is seeking answers after she was found alive at a funeral home two hours after being declared dead at a New York nursing home.
Balducci was pronounced dead on the morning of February 4, 2023, at Water's Edge Rehab and Nursing Center in Port Jefferson, Long Island.
Her body was then transported to Casimir Funeral Home in Miller Place, about six miles away, for embalming. However, funeral home workers discovered that Balducci was still breathing and had a pulse.
Balducci's sons, Robert and Joseph Balducci, have filed a lawsuit describing the incident as "extreme and outrageous conduct."
They are suing for what they allege is the wrongful death of their mother, claiming that the nursing home staff prematurely declared her dead and failed to diagnose a deep vein thrombosis, which they believe contributed to her death.
The family’s lawyer, Peter DeNoto, stated: "I think the case is more emblematic of what happens when elderly people go into these homes. They don't have an advocate to keep track of what's happening."
DeNoto questioned if the nurse followed the proper criteria for determining death and if a doctor confirmed the nurse's findings.
"There really is no excuse for putting a live person in a body bag and sending them to a facility for embalming," DeNoto told the New York Post.
Following the incident, investigations were launched by Suffolk County police, the New York State Department of Health, and the New York Attorney General's Office. However, the findings have not been disclosed.
Balducci had been living at her home until a fall in the summer of 2022 led to her hospitalization at Stony Brook University on Long Island. She was transferred to Water's Edge on September 6, 2022. Initially stable, her health began to decline, marked by a loss of appetite and increased fatigue.
On February 3, 2023, at 11:52PM, a nurse practitioner declared Balducci "unresponsive."
By 7:30AM the next morning, she was described as "in bed and comfortable," but by 11:15AM, she was declared deceased. Her body was placed in a sealed body bag and sent to the funeral home.
Two hours later, funeral home workers discovered she was still breathing. Paramedics rushed her to John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, where she was unresponsive and placed on palliative care until she passed away at 5:20AM on February 5, 2023.
The Balducci family is awaiting answers from both the nursing home and the funeral home, hoping to understand how such a mistake occurred. A criminal investigation is ongoing.
DeNoto emphasized the lack of advocacy for Balducci, stating: "She was definitely at the end stages of her life, unfortunately. That happens to all of us. But here it seems that it was too easy to say she is not alive anymore let's send her to a facility."
Despite Water's Edge boasting about its "outstanding short-term and subacute care" and "first-class amenities," it received an average rating of 3 out of 5 stars from the New York State Department of Health.
The facility has been fined $22,000 over the past 12 years for various incidents, including patient neglect and untreated bedsores.