Hospital Removes Brain-Dead Patient From Life Support After Contacting Someone Else's Family

In a bizarre case of a hospital mix-up, doctors removed the wrong person off life support after seeking permission from someone else's family. The incident took place at the St. Barnabas Hospital in Brooklyn, New York.

According to the New York Post, Freddy Clarence Williams, 40, was admitted to the hospital after suffering a drug overdose. His wallet had his Social Security card, which identified him. The doctors at the hospital researched his Social Security details and contacted Shirell Powell, 48, of Crown Heights, saying his brother was admitted to their facility after being found unconscious from an apparent drug overdose.

Powell, who recently filed a lawsuit against the hospital, said in court papers she rushed to the man’s bedside thinking him to be her brother Frederick Williams.

"He had tubes in his mouth, a neck brace,’’ Powell told the New York Post. “He was a little swollen . . . [But] he resembled my brother so much... He couldn’t speak from the time they brought him in the hospital. They just assumed it was my brother.”

She said that at first, she thought his appearance was altered but then it seemed as if his face was swollen. She had not heard from her brother at the time for several weeks. After two days of tests, St. Barnabas doctors told her that her “brother” was brain-dead.

“That is my baby brother, so it was really hurtful," Powell said. "I was worried, hurt, crying, screaming, calling everybody. It was a horrible feeling.”

With no hope for his recovery, Powell, with her uncle and sister at her side, “authorized [the hospital] to withdraw life support from Frederick Williams,” the lawsuit stated.

Only after an autopsy did the city Medical Examiner’s Office revealed the dead man was not her brother. She later found out her real sibling was in jail on a July 1 assault arrest in lower Manhattan — and she had sent a stranger to his death, her Bronx Supreme Court lawsuit stated.

“I nearly fainted because I killed somebody that I didn’t even know. I gave consent,” Powell said. “I was like, ‘Where is my brother? What is going on?’ I was devastated.”

Powell was suing the hospital for unspecified damages claiming they put her and her family through emotional turmoil. It remained unclear if the dead man's real family was aware about the incident.