An 82-year-old woman was found alive at a funeral home three hours after she was pronounced dead at a hospital in New York, the authorities said.
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On Saturday, at 11:15am, the woman was declared dead at the Water’s Edge Rehab and Nursing Center in Port Jefferson, Long Island, New York, according to the press statement released by Suffolk County police.
“The woman, whose name was not released, was taken to the OB Davis Funeral Homes in Miller Place at 1:30pm. She was discovered breathing at 2:09 pm,” the statement added.
The case has been referred to the state attorney general’s office for investigation, the statement said.
It is the second time that the case of apparent premature declaration of death has made the headlines in the US media. In January, a 66-year-old woman was found alive and gasping for air in a bag at a funeral home after she was declared dead at a hospital in Iowa.
According to the New York Times report, the woman was declared dead on 3 January at the Glen Oaks Alzheimer’s Special Care Center in Urbandale, Iowa. She was placed in a body bag and taken to the Ankeny Funeral Home & Crematory. The funeral home’s staff members then unzipped the body bag and found that the woman was alive and gasping for air.
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The woman was transferred back to hospital, where she died on January 5, according to a report published by the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals.
The hospital was fined $10,000 (£8,320) over their negligence, the report added.