Florida Man Sues Hospital After His Amputated Leg Was Found In Garbage With His Name Tag Still Attached

A Florida man, John Timiriasieff, was shocked when homicide detectives contacted his family after his amputated leg was found in the garbage. The amputee had his leg removed from the knee down at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables. However, instead of properly disposing of the amputated limb, doctors threw the leg into a garbage bin with Timiriasieff’s name still attached to a tag. The man is now suing the hospital for the “outrageous” behavior.

The Miami Herald reports that about a month after John Timiriasieff had his right leg amputated at Doctors Hospital, his family was contacted by homicide detectives who were concerned about the man’s well-being after his leg was found in the garbage. Detectives contacted the family based on a name tag that was found still attached to the leg. The patient’s personal information, along with the leg, were simply tossed into the trash with disregard to proper disposal requirements in the state of Florida.

Therefore, John is now suing the hospital in hopes that this never happens to anyone else again. John says that tossing his leg in the trash with garbage is “utterly intolerable in a civilized community.”

“[It is] outrageous and beyond the bounds of human decency as to be regarded as odious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.”

The amputee says that his privacy was violated when the leg was tossed out with the trash with his patient tag still attached. In addition to the privacy violations, he says that he suffered embarrassment and humiliation from the ordeal when the homicide detectives notified him that they had his leg in their possession. Reuters notes that Florida law requires body parts to be disposed of in a specific manner. Most amputated limbs are incinerated on site at the hospital; however, apparently that did not happen at Doctors Hospital that day.

When the family contacted the hospital, they say they were given no explanation as to why the leg was tossed into the trash. Instead, they said they could not provide any further information. Since the incident, the hospital has made a statement noting that procedures have been reinforced so that this does not happen again.

“However, we can say when Doctors Hospital was notified of this situation, hospital leaders took immediate and appropriate measures to address it. Proper procedures have been reinforced at the hospital to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.”

What type of restitution, if any, should the hospital pay to John Timiriasiff for the oversight in properly disposing of his amputated leg?

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