‘Too expensive’: 9-month-old ‘blue’ baby died at an Oregon hospital. Then his parents say staff told them to put him in his car seat and drive away

Aleksandr and Nataliya Yeremeyev say their 9-month-old son Michael died at Salem Hospital in Oregon after a short emergency visit. In a civil complaint filed in Multnomah County, the parents claimed hospital staff then told them to place the infant in his car seat and drive his body home to Washington.

The complaint, obtained by Law&Crime, stated that workers at Salem Hospital said it “would be too expensive to transport Michael’s remains using a local funeral home.” Staff allegedly told the couple the boy would be better off in their private vehicle for the trip of about four hours.

Nataliya Yeremeyev said she had to carry her son’s body, whose skin had turned blue, out of the hospital through the same emergency room lobby they had entered hours earlier. The parents said they understood from staff conduct and statements that they had to leave promptly with Michael’s remains.

Lawsuit details parents’ account of the drive and hospital response

Michael was born with Down syndrome and other significant health conditions, the complaint said. He spent the first six months of his life in a hospital rather than at home with his parents. The family was on its first outing with Michael in Oregon when his breathing became shallow and rapid, according to the filing. He was rushed to the emergency room and spent about two hours and 45 minutes at Salem Hospital before he died.

“When plaintiffs questioned how they were supposed to transport Michael’s body, Salem Health defendants told plaintiffs that they should put Michael in his car seat,” the complaint stated. The parents said staff failed to give them a reasonable chance to process the death, rest, talk with each other, contact relatives, or look at other options for caring for and moving the remains.

The complaint said the couple asked whether a local funeral home could transport Michael in a way that matched their religious beliefs and practices. Hospital staff allegedly refused. They also asked for paperwork about the death and the trip to Seattle.

Staff said they could not print the needed forms because they did not have the correct paper or form, according to the lawsuit. Such hospital policies can leave grieving families in distressing situations, as when a Missouri woman was charged $6280 for a nursery after holding her newborn for 11 minutes before the baby died.

A doctor gave them only a handwritten note on a prescription pad stating that their child had died at the hospital, the complaint said. “Plaintiffs understood, based on the conduct and representations of the Salem Health defendants, that they had to leave the hospital promptly with Michael’s body,” the filing stated.

Aleksandr Yeremeyev said he was in shock and grief during the drive from Salem to Seattle. The complaint stated that he “feared being stopped by police, being involved in a collision, and the ongoing deterioration of his son’s body.” Nataliya and the couple’s other children followed in a separate vehicle driven by a family member.

During the trip, the parents had to call local funeral homes to arrange for Michael’s body. “Aleksandr had to clean bodily fluids from the back seat of his vehicle, which had seeped from Michael’s body during the drive,” the complaint said.

The Yeremeyevs are seeking $10 million. When asked for comment, Salem Health said it does not comment on pending litigation. The lawsuit describes a pattern of alleged hospital negligence, such as when a Portland hospital was sued for allegedly installing a 13-year-old girl’s heart valve upside down.