NC pays $425,000 to family of man mistaken declared dead

CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) — North Carolina officials have agreed to pay $425,000 to a man who was mistakenly declared dead and shipped to a morgue in 2005.

The Charlotte Observer reports the payment settles a lawsuit that alleges the mix-up by a medical examiner left Larry Green paralyzed and with severe brain damage.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services says the settlement avoids a long trial. The spokesman did not answer questions about the settlement.

Green was hit by a car in Franklin County. Emergency workers found no vital signs as he lay face down with a head wound.

The medical examiner arrived and ordered that Green be shipped to a morgue where he was discovered to be alive after he was removed from a refrigerator there.

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