King County parents say OR hospital told them to drive dead baby home

SALEM, Ore. - A Washington couple has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Salem Health and an emergency physician after hospital staff allegedly instructed them to transport their deceased eight-month-old son in the backseat of their personal car following his sudden death in an emergency room.

The complaint was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court by Aleksandr and Nataliya Yeremeyev, who live in King County. Their son, Michael, was born with Down syndrome and spent the first six months of his life at Seattle Children's Hospital.

"His parents had made sure that he had received really excellent care. So, I think it was a really, really sad and just very tragic way for his life to end and for it to be so undignified right there at the end," said Anna Bruckenhoefer, Yeremeyev's family's attorney.

According to the complaint filed, the incident happened on September 22, 2024, while the family was visiting Salem for a religious retreat. Michael developed rapid, shallow breathing late at night and was rushed to Salem Hospital's emergency room.

Despite efforts to save his life, Michael died at the hospital.

Allegations of negligence, improper guidance

When the grieving parents asked how to arrange respectful transport for Michael’s body back home to Seattle, hospital staff allegedly discouraged them from contacting a local funeral home, claiming it would be "too expensive". Instead, staff told the Yeremeyev’s to transport their son’s body in their own personal car.

"They have repeatedly asked the hospital for assistance in helping them with what are the next steps," said Bruckenhoefer of D'Amore Law Group. "This was all occurring overnight. They felt rushed that they had to make quick decisions and the hospital left them with no choice other than to take Michael's body with them and head back to Seattle."

The lawsuit detailed a series of events inside the emergency room:

• Hospital staff initially suggested placing the deceased infant in his car seat. When the parents expressed distress that the child's body was undergoing rigor mortis during the four-hour drive, staff allegedly instructed them to lay him flat across the backseat. The parents had to request an extra blanket to cover him.
• When the couple asked for necessary death and transport documentation for interstate travel, hospital staff allegedly stated they could not print the forms because they lacked the proper paper. The attending physician, Dr. Stefani Sorensen, provided only a handwritten note on a prescription pad stating the infant had died at the hospital, according to the lawsuit.
• Hospital staff failed to offer temporary storage in a hospital morgue or refrigerated setting, depriving the parents of time to process their grief, rest, or coordinate with a funeral home.
• Nataliya had to carry her deceased, blue-skinned baby boy out through the same public emergency room lobby through which she had arrived hours earlier.

"It is legal in the state of Oregon and in the state of Washington to transport a deceased with the proper permits. But that is not what our clients wanted to do here. They were looking for help. They were looking for guidance. They were looking for the hospital to tell them, ‘These are the next steps,’" said Bruckenhoefer. "This is a hospital. It's an emergency department. Unfortunately, death is something that they are accustomed to and that they deal with. They should have had procedures and protocols in place to assist the Yeremeyev’s while they were dealing with literally the worst moment of their lives. Instead, what they did is they just compounded their grief by essentially telling them that they were on their own in this."

A Four-Hour Drive in Shock

Following hospital directions, Aleksandr drove approximately four hours from Salem to Seattle with his son’s body laid across the backseat. His wife and other children followed in a separate car. 

The lawsuit states that throughout the drive, Aleksandr suffered severe emotional distress, fearing police stops, traffic collisions, and the visible deterioration of his child's body. Upon arriving at a Seattle funeral home, the grieving father had to clean bodily fluids that leaked onto his seats during the trip. 

"No parents, no loved ones should ever be placed in the position that the Yeremeyev’s were placed in," said Bruckenhoefer. "Just completely surprised that something like this would happen in 2026."

Seeking Accountability and Systemic Change

The lawsuit names Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics, Salem Health, Salem Emergency Physicians Service, and Dr. Sorensen as defendants. The complaint alleges direct negligence, vicarious liability, and a breach of the heightened duty of care owed to bereaved parents regarding the respectful treatment and custody of a child's body. 

"It was really important for them to make sure that the hospital was held accountable for how they let him down. They really fought so hard to get Michael really good care for the first eight months of his life, and so I think it was really important for them to make sure that the hospital was held accountable for how they let him down."

The family is seeking $10 million in non-economic damages for severe emotional distress and psychological trauma, with plans to amend the complaint to include punitive damages. 

In a statement to FOX 13 Seattle, Salem Health said:

"The death of a child is a profound and heartbreaking loss, and we extend our deepest condolences to the Yeremeyev family. Out of respect for privacy and because this matter is in litigation, we are unable to discuss the details of Michael’s care. 

Salem Hospital responded in accordance with the family’s wishes and followed both hospital policy and Oregon state law in consultation with the appropriate local authorities, including the medical examiner.

Care with respect is a guiding principle of clinical practice at Salem Hospital and remains central to how we support patients and families during some of life's most difficult moments. We recognize the profound grief families experience following the loss of a loved one and treat every patient and family with empathy, dignity, and respect."

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