Family of Woman with Cerebral Palsy Who Was Declared Dead Then Found Alive Suing City for $50 Million
Fieger Law Timesha Beauchamp
The family of a woman who was accidentally declared dead this summer has filed a lawsuit against the four first responders on the scene and the city of Southfield, Michigan.
Timesha Beauchamp, 20, died in the hospital over the weekend, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Earlier this month, Beauchamp's family sued the Southfield EMS Paramedics for $50 million for declaring her dead when she was "very much alive," family attorney Geoffrey Fieger said in a statement on October 8.
The four paramedics involved have had their licenses suspended, Fieger said.
"All the telemetry evidence shows that Timesha was alive when EMS declared her dead," he said in a statement. "As a result of being declared dead, she was left without oxygen for 4 hours, suffering severe hypoxic brain damage."
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"All of this could have been avoided, had more care been taken," he added.
Beauchamp, who had cerebral palsy, was first declared dead on August 23 after her family called 911 for help because she was having breathing problems. Beauchamp was declared dead by an emergency room doctor over the phone who had been provided information by first responders on the scene, PEOPLE previously reported.
She was later taken to the James H. Cole Home for Funerals, where a staffer who was about to embalm her body noticed her eyes open and chest moving, indicating that she was still breathing.
In a previous statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for the Southfield Fire Department said responding authorities "followed all appropriate city, county and state protocols and procedures in this case."
The spokesperson added at the time that the City of Southfield and the Oakland County Medical Control Authority were conducting investigations into the incident and would report their findings to the State of Michigan Bureau of EMS, Trauma and Preparedness.
