Chicago Hospital Sued for Losing Body
USA TODAY – June 29, 2012
A Chicago-area hospital and Cook County, Illinois, have been sued by the family of a man whose body was lost for two weeks at the morgue before it was finally identified, according to court documents.
The suit was filed against St. Bernard Hospital and the county by the family of Brian Warren, alleging that the hospital held the body of their loved one from December 29, 2011, to January 11, 2012, before he was identified and his family was notified of his death.
When Warren went missing, his family contacted the Cook County morgue, who informed them that he wasn’t there. Not receiving notification of Warrens’s death, his family assumed he was still alive and filed a missing person report with the Chicago Police Department.
According to the lawsuit, Warren arrived at the hospital with identification on his person. However, his body was not identified at the morgue until a full two weeks after it arrived.
The family is seeking $3 million in damages.