A Seattle couple has filed a $10 million lawsuit against an Oregon hospital and a doctor, alleging that staff told them to transport their deceased infant son's body four hours home in their own car after he died in the emergency room. Aleksandr and Nataliya Yeremeyev filed the complaint against Salem Health and Dr. Stefani Sorensen, accusing the hospital of negligence and a breach of the duty of care owed to grieving parents.
The lawsuit centers on the death of the couple's nearly 9-month-old son, Michael, who was born with Down syndrome and spent the first six months of his life at Seattle Children's Hospital. According to the complaint, the family was visiting Salem, Oregon, for a religious retreat on September 22, 2024, when Michael developed rapid, shallow breathing late at night and was rushed to the emergency room at Salem Health Hospital, where he died.
When the parents asked how to arrange respectful transport of Michael's body back to Seattle, hospital staff allegedly pushed back on contacting a local funeral home, saying it would be too expensive, and instead pressured the family to take the body with them in their personal vehicle. The family says they felt they had no other option.
«They have repeatedly asked the hospital for assistance in helping them with what are the next steps,» said Anna Bruckenhoefer, the family's attorney, according to Fox 13. «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.»
Aleksandr Yeremeyev drove approximately four hours from Salem to Seattle with his son's body laid across the backseat, while his wife and other children followed in a separate car. The lawsuit states he suffered severe emotional distress, fearing police stops, car crashes, and the visible deterioration of his child's body. Upon arriving at a Seattle funeral home, the father had to clean bodily fluids that had leaked onto the seat during the trip.
«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,'» Bruckenhoefer said.
«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 Yeremeyevs 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.»
The lawsuit names Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics, Salem Health, Salem Emergency Physicians Service, and Dr. Sorensen as defendants. It alleges direct negligence, vicarious liability, and a breach of the heightened duty of care owed to bereaved parents for the respectful treatment and custody of a child's body. The family is seeking $10 million in non-economic damages for severe emotional distress and psychological trauma, and plans to amend the complaint to include punitive damages.
Salem Health said it could not discuss the details of the child's care due to privacy concerns and pending litigation. In a statement to Fox 13, the hospital said: «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.»
The statement continued: «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.»
Bruckenhoefer said the family had ensured Michael received excellent care throughout his short life, making the circumstances of his death and the handling of his remains especially painful. «No parents, no loved ones should ever be placed in the position that the Yeremeyevs were placed in,» she said. «Just completely surprised that something like this would happen in 2026.»