An 82-year-old woman who “passed away” at a nursing home on Long Island was found breathing after she was transported to a funeral home, according to police.
The woman, whose identity was not revealed, was pronounced dead at Waters Edge Rehab and Nursing Center in Port Jefferson, New York, around 11:15 a.m. on Saturday. She was taken to O.B. Davis Funeral Home at 1:30 p.m. Funeral home workers realized she was breathing at 2:09 p.m. The woman was transported to a hospital, NBC New York reported. Suffolk County police have not provided an update about the woman's case.
Now, the case is being referred to the New York State Attorney General's Office for investigation, as well as by the New York State Department of Health.
“This is an awful situation that has caused unnecessary trauma for the impacted resident and her loved ones,” a spokesperson from the attorney general's office told People.
In a statement to local outlet WABC, the funeral home said: “Out of respect for the privacy and confidentiality of the families we are honored to serve, we are not in a position to comment further on this matter.”
Last month, a care home in Iowa was fined $10,000 after a similar incident.
A 66-year-old woman who was living at the Glen Oaks Alzheimer’s Special Care Center since December 2021 was “pronounced dead” when a staff member noticed “her mouth was open, her eyes were fixed, and there were no breath sounds,” Fox News reported.
In a report, the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals wrote that the nurse practitioner who cared for the woman was unable to detect a pulse and said she was not breathing. She assessed the woman’s condition for five minutes before determining that she had died around 6:30 a.m.
After contacting the woman’s family and a funeral home, a licensed nurse practitioner and a funeral home director reportedly put the woman into a body bag and zipped it close. Both workers said there were no signs of life.
However, upon arriving at the funeral home, a worker unzipped the body bag and saw the woman’s chest moving and she gasped for air. The funeral home called 911 and first responders recorded the woman’s pulse and breathing.
Two days later, the woman died with family by her side, Fox News noted.
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