An Oregon hospital is facing a $10 million lawsuit after an 8-month-old boy died during his family’s first trip away from home. Aleksandr and Nataliya Yeremeyev say their son Michael passed away at Salem Health in September 2024 after his breathing turned rapid during a church retreat. Instead of being guided through what comes next, the lawsuit claims staff told them that moving his body to a funeral home was too expensive and lacked the proper paperwork. An emergency physician allegedly handed them a handwritten note on a prescription pad and told them to place him in his car seat.
When the mother said his body would stiffen, staff reportedly told her to lay him flat across the backseat with a blanket. She carried her son through the emergency lobby, and her husband drove four hours back into Washington, calling funeral homes from the road and later cleaning bodily fluids from the car. Their attorney says the parents were in acute shock and grief, and that they received a prescription slip instead of compassion and standard procedure.
The lawsuit names Salem Health Hospitals and Clinics, Salem Emergency Physicians Service, and Dr. Stefani Sorensen, alleging gross negligence and a failure to provide dignified post-mortem care. Salem Health has declined to comment on pending litigation. The case raises hard questions for every family: do you know what a hospital is required to do after a death, and who handles transport to a funeral home? Have you ever thought about this for your own family?
