Causes of rare cases of erroneously declaring the death of some, although they are alive

The doctor explained some of the reasons why someone is mistakenly declared dead when in fact he is still alive.

This follows two cases in the US in recent months where people declared dead were still breathing after being taken to the morgue.

In one case in New York City, an 82-year-old woman was declared dead in a nursing home only to be found by funeral directors to be still alive.

In a similar incident, a nurse announced the death of a 66-year-old woman with dementia praecox before funeral home workers found her suffocating while unpacking a body bag.

Fortunately, such cases are extremely rare, but cause concern among people. This may explain an ancient maritime custom used to confirm that sailors are indeed dead, since in the past, when a cloth shroud was sewn for a dead sailor, the shroud was sewn the last stitch over the deceased’s nose.

It was believed that sticking a needle into a dead person’s nose would be effective enough to wake anyone who was actually still alive.

Currently, the death proof process is far less brutal than this ancient procedure, explains Dr. Stephen Hughes, senior lecturer in medicine at Anglia Ruskin University. He says that all physicians should pay attention to the absence of sounds in the heart and breathing for a certain period of time, in the presence of fixed and dilated pupils and not responding to any stimuli, which means death of a person.

Unfortunately, there were cases when death was confirmed after this operation, but after that the patient showed signs of life.

Dr. Hughes noted that over the years he had witnessed some of these events, such as when one of his colleagues announced the death of an elderly woman, but soon after that she began to breathe again and her pulse was restored for a short time.

In another case, a woman took an overdose of barbiturates prescribed for the treatment of epilepsy, and she had a heart attack, after which the doctor pronounced the patient dead. But when she arrived at the morgue, one of her legs was noticed to twitch, and she subsequently recovered.

Dr. Hughes explains that such incidents can occur when a doctor cannot properly confirm a death. He explained: “Rapid scanning during distraction can easily lead to the inability to hear heart sounds and identify irregular breathing. It pays to be accurate.”

But he noted that the task could be made more difficult by some medications that might be given to the patient.

Medicines, poisons and cold water

It is believed that sedatives somehow protect the brain from damage and are used as anesthetics in major operations, especially if it is necessary to temporarily stop the circulation.

But an overdose of sedatives reduces the reaction and suppresses breathing and circulation, making a person dead, protecting the brain from hypoxia (oxygen starvation). Later, when the drug is removed from the body, the person may wake up.

The doctor says both diazepam (a brand name for Valium) and alprazolam (a brand name for Xanax) have also led to patients being mistakenly declared dead. Some poisons may have a similar effect.

Immersion in cold water can also lead to the illusion of death due to a slow heart rate. Their survival after long periods of time in the water is well documented.

Hughes noted that they had long learned in emergency medicine that a drowned patient was not considered dead until rewarmed, and neurological recovery was reported after periods of immersion in cold water of up to 70 minutes.

Fainting can also deceive the doctor. When a person passes out, the vagus nerve (the longest cranial nerve in the body) is activated, which slows the heart rate and lowers blood pressure.

This may be the cause of a very sad case reported from Honduras where a pregnant teenage girl is believed to have died of shock after hearing gunshots in her area. The day after the funeral, a scream was heard in her grave. It is very likely that she woke up after a long coma.

The doctor says that many of the cases where people have been wrongly declared dead come from outside of Europe, possibly due to differences in death confirmation procedures or the inability of the patient’s family to pay the doctor’s expenses.

Whatever the reason, these cases appear in the media because they are sensational and attract attention, but in the end they are very rare.

Source: Medical Express