Australian hospital probed over live woman declared dead

Sydney Herald, May 12, 2009

An Australian hospital will investigate an incident in which staff declared a woman dead and notify her family, only to realize minutes later she was still breathing. Rita Ring was admitted to Innisfail Hospital from a local nursing home on May 3, and was wrongly declared dead shortly before midnight. Staff informed the 92-year-old woman's next of kin, but had to call back a short time later to inform them there had been a mistake. Ring died in the hospital three days later. Innisfail Hospital is investigating the circumstances around the error, and has apologized to the family.