Family finds daughter had been dead for months after hospital told them she had ‘checked out’

The family of a 31-year-old woman who believed she went missing from hospital have filed a lawsuit after learning she'd actually been dead for nearly a year.

Jessie Peterson checked in to Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Sacramento, California on April 6, 2023 after suffering complications related to her Type 1 diabetes.

Jessie called her mother, Ginger Congi, to pick her up after two days, but when Ginger called the hospital on April 11, she was told her daughter had checked herself out against medical advice.

When Jessie failed to return home or even get in touch with her family, her loved ones became worried and launched a search which involved both the police and the California Department of Justice.

It wasn't until almost exactly a year later, on April 12, 2024, that Jessie's family was contacted by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and told that she was dead.

As if that news wasn't shocking enough, the family learned Jessie had been pronounced dead about two hours after she'd called her mom to pick her up one year earlier.

The day after she died, Jessie's body was taken to a cold-storage facility, where it remained until her family learned what had happened.

In California, physicians are required to fill out a death certificate within 15 hours of a death. However, Jessie's certificate wasn't filed for 361 days, according to the lawsuit now submitted by her family.

Jessie Peterson checked into the hospital after suffering a diabetes episode. (KCRA 3)

"Mercy San Juan stored Jessie in an off-site warehouse morgue and she was left to decompose for nearly a year while her family relentlessly inquired about her whereabouts," the lawsuit claimed.

The filing, which said Jessie died of cardiopulmonary arrest, alerted sheriff's officials to her death, at which point her family were informed.

The family are seeking $25 million in damages, including punitive damages, for what they have claimed is 'outrageous and inexcusable negligence'.

Their attorney, Marc R. Greenberg, told The Los Angeles Times: “You don’t just get to make these kinds of mistakes and think it’s OK."

A spokesperson for Mercy San Juan, which is operated by Dignity Health and owned by CommonSpirit Health, declined to comment on the lawsuit but told The Times: "We extend our deepest sympathies to the family during this difficult time. We are unable to comment on pending litigation.”

Jessie's body was too decomposed for an autopsy by the time it was found. (KCRA 3)

Greenberg claims the family have also found inconsistencies in medical documents they've received in relation to Jessie's health, with one record claiming a chest X-ray conducted when she checked in was compared to another scan done on May 31, 2023.

“She was dead and in cold storage by then, so what did [they] compare it to?” Greenberg questioned.

Jessie's body had decomposed too much in the year she was in storage for an autopsy to provide many answers to the family's questions.

Dignity Health, which operates Mercy San Juan, told The Guardian: “We extend our deepest sympathies to the family during this difficult time. We are unable to comment on pending litigation.”

UNILAD has contacted Dignity Health for additional comment.

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