Doctors at an Ohio hospital propped up a dead patient in a “fake alive” pose before she was seen by her family — even though she had died during a routine surgery two hours earlier, according to a lawsuit.
The patient, an unidentified 65-year-old woman, was in “good health” when she walked into Adena Health System in Chillicothe for what should have been a routine heart catheterization, the Scioto Valley Guardian reported.
The woman’s family has claimed discrepancies between hospital records and the death certificate regarding her time of death.
While her medical records indicated a 1:00 p.m. time of death, the woman’s death certificate says 3:05 p.m. — which is the time her family was brought into the room and urged to take her off life support.
Her family is now demanding the truth behind what happened leading up to her death and why she had been propped up to look “fake alive” for her family when she had been declared dead two hours before.
The woman received surgery from Dr. Jarrod Betz, a cardiologist who has faced previous questions over his credentials.
Betz has performed at least three “Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) procedures despite not being qualified to perform the specialized operation, the outlet previously reported in May.
Betz allegedly cut into an artery during the procedure. While he thought he had gotten the situation under control, the woman was still bleeding later in the ICU.
The surgery was taken over by a second cardiologist, Dr. Atiq Reham. The patient later died under his care, medical records show.
At least 31 people have come forward accusing Betz of faking his credentials, the outlet reported.
An independent autopsy was requested by the family after they found out that Ben Trotter, the Ross County Coroner, is an employee of Adena.
Adena Health System has not commented on the matter.
