By Ed White
Associated Press
DETROIT 鈥� A Michigan appeals court revived a lawsuit against Detroit-area paramedics after a woman who had been declared dead gasped for air with her eyes open when a at a funeral home.
A judge was wrong to dismiss the lawsuit in favor of Southfield paramedics before the parties could conduct interviews and gather other evidence, a process known as discovery, the court said in a 3-0 opinion Thursday.
Timesha Beauchamp, who had cerebral palsy, was struggling to breathe when her family called 911 in August 2020.
The medical crew tried to resuscitate her but ultimately called a doctor, who declared the 20-year-old dead without going to the home. Beauchamp was never taken to a hospital.
Later that day, a funeral home unzipped the body bag and found Beauchamp had her eyes open. She was rushed to a hospital but died two months later.
Beauchamp鈥檚 family accused the medical crew of gross negligence. Oakland County Judge Nanci Grant dismissed the lawsuit, saying the Southfield employees had governmental immunity.
An attorney for the medical crew, Kali Henderson, acknowledged that it 鈥渟ounds really bad鈥� to say there鈥檚 no liability for the paramedics and emergency medical technicians.
鈥淲here do we have the facts that anything they could have done would have changed her condition?鈥� Henderson told the appeals court on June 12.
But Judge Brock Swartzle said lawyers for Beauchamp鈥檚 estate haven鈥檛 yet taken depositions and gathered more information.
鈥淒iscovery might show that they are not responsible for her passing two months later,鈥� he said of Beauchamp鈥檚 death. 鈥淛ust focusing on her being in a body bag for a certain amount of time 鈥� that would frighten, shock, humiliate anyone, wouldn鈥檛 it?鈥�
鈥淐ertainly, your honor,鈥� Henderson replied, 鈥渁nd I don鈥檛 disagree with that.鈥�
The lawsuit now will return to Oakland County court.
Immediately after Beauchamp was found alive, the Southfield fire chief said it might be a case of 鈥淟azarus syndrome,鈥� a reference to people who come back to life without assistance after attempts to resuscitate have failed.