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Posted on 09/25/2026 11:09:31 PM PDT by Morgana
A couple is suing an Oregon hospital for $10 million after they were allegedly forced to drive home with the body of their dead infant son.
Aleksandr and Nataliya Yeremeyev are accusing Salem Health Hospitals and Clinics of negligence after their infant son, Michael, died in the emergency department in September 2024. Hospital staff then allegedly instructed the Yeremeyevs to drive their son’s body home to Seattle in their personal vehicle.
“Michael Yeremeyev died in Salem Hospital’s emergency room after falling ill during his first family trip, at less than nine months old,” the family’s attorneys said in a statement. “At the moment when his parents, Aleksandr and Nataliya, most needed support, guidance, and assistance in navigating this tragic situation, they got none.”
The Yeremeyevs had traveled to Salem, Oregon, with their 6-month-old son, Michael, for a Christian retreat when his breathing suddenly became shallow and rapid, according to the complaint. Michael was born with Down syndrome and had other significant medical conditions. Aleksandr Yeremeyev took Michael to the emergency department at Salem Hospital. Despite lifesaving efforts by medical staff, Michael died hours later.
After the child passed away, the parents said hospital staff asked them to stay away from his body while they waited for a medical examiner. Eventually, hospital staff told the couple that a medical examiner would not be coming, according to the complaint.
When the parents asked about arrangements for their child’s body and how to arrange for a local funeral home to transport him in a manner that aligned with their religious beliefs and practices, staff allegedly told them it would be too expensive and instructed them to drive the child’s body home in their own car.
Staff also allegedly said they couldn’t print the necessary paperwork for the child’s death because they did not have the correct paper or form. A doctor provided them with a handwritten note stating the child had died at the hospital. When the parents asked how they were to transport the child’s body and expressed concern about his body becoming stiff during the four-hour drive, hospital staff allegedly said they should lay his body flat in the backseat.
The couple then carried their dead child, whose face had turned blue, out of the emergency department and into their car. They laid him in the backseat, as they said they were told to do, and drove home to Seattle, the lawsuit says.
“No grieving family should ever be placed in that position,” their lawyers said. “Salem Health categorically failed this family at the worst moment of their lives, and we intend to hold them accountable.”
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Salem Health said the company was unable to discuss pending litigation but that their deepest condolences are with the Yeremeyev family.
“Salem Hospital responded in accordance with the family’s wishes and followed both hospital policy and Oregon state law in consultation with the appropriate local authorities, including the medical examiner,” the spokesperson said. “Care with respect is a guiding principle of clinical practice at Salem Hospital and remains central to how we support patients and families during some of life’s most difficult moments. We recognize the profound grief families experience following the loss of a loved one and treat every patient and family with empathy, dignity, and respect.”
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Good Grief. I can’t imagine.
Definitely “more to the story”...
Regards,
This is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard of.
It’s difficult for me to believe, although I do.
Reasonable.
Eventually, hospital staff told the couple that a medical examiner would not be coming, according to the complaint.
Not reasonable.
Staff also allegedly said they couldn’t print the necessary paperwork for the child’s death because they did not have the correct paper or form.
Say what? This is the age of the internet. You can down load a form for anything.
A doctor provided them with a handwritten note stating the child had died at the hospital.
No.
When the parents asked how they were to transport the child’s body and expressed concern about his body becoming stiff during the four-hour drive, hospital staff allegedly said they should lay his body flat in the backseat.
Oh, no no no.
If as stated, always an if, this hospital needs to be sued for endangering the public and being bloody morons.
Yeah, the "more" is almost certainly money.
That. And this. Which shows that money was discussed by the staff and the family. This article bounced around the money issue.
When the parents asked about arrangements for their child’s body and how to arrange for a local funeral home to transport him in a manner that aligned with their religious beliefs and practices, staff allegedly told them it would be too expensive and instructed them to drive the child’s body home in their own car.
Recently, I got a survey to complete from a third-party group to respond re a recent hospital procedure.
After clicking all the appropriate boxes, they asked for comments. I told them that, since Covid, healthcare has become adversarial with patients, and nobody trusts them anymore.
I met my best friend when we were both three years old.
Her parents had come to the door of the parsonage asking for help because they couldn’t afford to drive their baby who had just died down to PA (from western NY) to be buried.
Dad and Mom loaded them and the baby into our car and made the five-hour drive to Johnstown. I don’t recall how the baby was prepared, etc. I don’t recall the incident, actually — just heard the story over the years.
If I was only 6 months old when my parents brought me along for our first family trip together, I don’t remember it. I’m sure we went here and there for occasional short drives but not for any 4-hour excursions until I was at least 3 or 4 years old, and I don’t think we knew anyone that far from home.
What is it with parents bringing their infant children with them everywhere they go, like they’ve never heard of hiring a babysitter? I’ve seen them at pro sports venues, major fireworks displays, airliners and major airports, and HOOTERS before they banned smoking and elsewhere that seemed less than appropriate (not that there’s anything wrong with that /s).
“Salem Hospital responded in accordance with the family’s wishes and followed both hospital policy and Oregon state law in consultation with the appropriate local authorities, including the medical examiner,”
Really??
Cuz it sounds like a cascade of stupid from the start...
Did they know he was going to die?? Who saw the baby prior??
Import the third world ...
“..Cuz it sounds like a cascade of stupid from the start...”
Well, in all fairness, this is the utopian land of the woke.... They’re basically godless and evil to the bone. On top of that, they’re not the sharpest tools in the shed either.
Never allow third party even for a survey. They will sell your info. Read disclosures
Something seems off, or at least the writer is helping to make it so.
One sentence says the child was less than nine months old. A few sentences later says he was 6 mos when traveling. I didn’t read further but maybe he was traveling for multiple months? Otherwise why not just state 6 or 7 months?
My guess is the cost of the funeral director is not something the insurance covers. This probably started a series of possible solutions like maybe the coroner would be able to store the body and ended with the plan to transport with the couple driving the body home.
Smells like a Russian/ Eastern European scammer story .
The Russians have been sneaking into the US using travel visas for years.
These two hooked up with a snake lawyer.
Check these foreigners’ legal status.
The writer is not too bright to figure out their changing story .
One article says the baby spent his first six months in a hospital.
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