Case 5: Death disclosure

Abstract

A 46-year-old African American woman presents to the emergency department in cardiac arrest. The patient is known to be on hospice care for metastatic cancer. The patient is pronounced dead in the emergency department 15 min after arrival in asystole. The emergency physician pronounces the patient dead and he informed the patient’s immediate and extended family of her death. The patient’s sisters tell the physician that the patient is not actually dead and state that Lazarus rose from the dead and they refuse to believe that she is dead. They report that Jesus told Martha, "Your brother will rise again." The sisters assert that the patient will in fact rise again and that they insisted on waiting for 5 days before death is declared stating that Jesus came on the fourth day and they need to wait a minimum of 4 days. The physician is not of Christian faith and is unfamiliar with this idea and explains the hospital protocol and the state law to the family. The family refuses to select a funeral home and request the patient be allowed to stay at the hospital for the 4 days while they wait for Jesus to resurrect her.