Gee: Wait, what?! Oregon hospital told parents to drive their dead baby home — something can be legal and still be heartless

I need you to imagine the worst moment of your life. Your 8-month-old baby dies in a hospital. You’re four hours from home, and you turn to the people in the hospital because surely they know what happens next.

According to a lawsuit filed by a Seattle area family, what happened next is almost impossible to comprehend. Aleksandr and Nataliya Yeremeyev said their son Michael died at Salem Hospital in Oregon in September 2024. Michael had Down syndrome and other significant health conditions. The family was visiting Oregon when his breathing became shallow and rapid. They rushed him to the emergency room, where he died.

The lawsuit alleged that when the parents asked about getting their son’s body back to Seattle, hospital staff told them using a funeral home would be too expensive. So, according to the lawsuit, they were told to take their dead baby home themselves.

Wait, what?!

The parents were reportedly first told they could put Michael in his car seat. When they raised concerns about his body becoming stiff during the four-hour drive, they said they were told to lay him flat across the back seat.

The lawsuit also alleges the hospital didn’t offer to keep Michael’s body in a morgue while his parents grieved and made arrangements. Also, according to the complaint, they left with essentially a handwritten note on a prescription pad documenting that their child had died. The mom carried her deceased baby through the emergency room lobby and out to the family’s vehicle, and then they drove roughly four hours back to Seattle with his son’s body lying across the back seat.

The lawsuit said that when they finally arrived in Seattle, the father had to clean bodily fluids from the car.

The family is now seeking $10 million in damages. Salem Health disputes the family’s characterization of the events. The hospital said that it acted according to the family’s wishes, hospital policy, and Oregon law. Because litigation is pending, the hospital said it cannot discuss the details of Michael’s care.

These are allegations, and a court will help sort out the legal responsibility. However, even if something is technically legal, it doesn’t make it humane.

How would you want your family treated on the worst day of your life? This family just lost their son. I’d imagine they weren’t dealing with policy manuals, legal language, or hospital procedures.

When this is all sorted out, I really hope that there’s a part of the story that is missing. And that is the part where there was some type of compassion.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.

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