Sanford Health sued after human torso allegedly found in medical waste

A brewing feud between a Midwest health care giant and a medical waste disposal company is shaping up, in the words of a lawsuit over the dispute, as a "made-for television movie complete with decaying human remains and staged photographs."

Minnesotans will recognize Sanford Health as the subject of years of controversy in an ongoing merger negotiation with Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis, currently delayed until late August at the earliest. But in North Dakota, one of Sanford's subsidiaries is facing legal trouble involving an alleged missing torso.

Monarch Waste Technologies has filed a lawsuit in North Dakota against Sanford Health which alleges that Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) — which Sanford oversees — allegedly mishandled human remains by disposing of a human torso in a plastic container at the waste disposal facility.

The suit alleges HES delivered the torso on March 3 to Monarch's Fargo facility in violation of North Dakota law, which prohibits certain types of waste, including human torsos or improperly packaged containers. An HES employee then signed the delivery papers in place of a Monarch employee. According to the lawsuit, HES and Sanford said they never delivered a torso.

Four days later, a Monarch worker noticed a "rotten and putrid smell."

"I still am disturbed," said David Cardenas, CEO of Monarch Waste Technologies. "It's just shocking."

Sanford Health denied the accusations in the lawsuit, according to a spokesman, and will file its own claims against Monarch for its "demonstrated failure to fulfill services it was contractually obligated to provide."

"Sanford Health has always complied with all the proper procedures and regulations regarding these practices and to suggest otherwise is outrageous," the spokesman said in a statement. "We look forward to the details relating to this matter coming to light during the course of this litigation."

After discovering the body part, Monarch did not accept the torso and alerted the North Dakota Environmental Quality Department, which is now investigating. But then "the torso simply disappeared at some point," according to the lawsuit.

Monarch claims HES intentionally delivered the torso, in breach of the companies' contract, with the intention of tarnishing Monarch's reputation. The lawsuit also alleges other HES transgressions separate from the torso incident, including staging photographs, removing waste from the facility and turning off the feed water to Monarch's boiler.

The alleged disposal of a human torso would have to be due to negligence, said Joe McGraw, a fifth-generation funeral director at Gill Brothers Funeral Home in Minneapolis.

McGraw said the accusations in the lawsuit are "shocking."

"When an instance like this happens, you just feel awful for the family," McGraw said.

Abbie Pickerign, another Gill Brothers funeral director who previously worked at a facility that processed bodies donated to science, said the allegations, if true, are "pretty unacceptable."

"We always just try our hardest to give respect and dignity to the deceased," Pickerign said. "I don't see there being any logical reason for just a torso to be found."

Cardenas said Sanford's denial of wrongdoing and plans to sue back are "as shocking as the body."

"They can do what they want, but good luck to them."