St. Joe's officials thought Burns suffered "cardiac death" in October 2009, according to documents obtained by The Post-Standard under the state Freedom of Information Law.
Her family had agreed to allow doctors to withdraw life support and remove her organs after they were told she was dead.
The day before her organs were to be removed, a nurse had performed a reflex test on Burns, scraping a finger on the bottom of her foot. The toes curled downward - not the expected reaction of someone who's supposed to be dead.
There were other indications that Burns had not suffered irreversible brain damage, as doctors had determined. Her nostrils flared in the prep area outside the OR. She seemed to be breathing independently from the respirator she was attached to. Her lips and tongue moved.
Twenty minutes after those observations were made, a nurse gave Burns an injection of the sedative Ativan, according to records.
In the doctors' notes, there's no mention of the sedative or any indication they were aware of her improving condition.
None of those signs stopped the organ-harvesting process. It wasn't until Burns was wheeled into the OR on Oct. 20, 2009, opened her eyes and looked at the lights above her that doctors called it off.
Burns had been in a deep coma from taking an overdose of drugs. Hospital personnel misread that as irreversible brain damage without doing enough to evaluate her condition, the state Health Department found.
