Fake Death Calls Send Tearful Kin to Hospital

Twelve panicked people rushed to Humana Hospital-West Hills after receiving phony telephone calls about relatives who supposedly had died or been critically injured in accidents, hospital officials said Sunday.

Similar phone calls, between 11 p.m. Saturday and 3 a.m. Sunday, prompted eight other people to call Humana Hospital’s emergency room and inquire about family members.

Hospital officials said they suspect that the culprit is a man who has called the emergency room to complain about sexual problems several times a week for the last two to three months. The calls always come in the middle of the night, said hospital spokesman Greg Potenza, who characterized them as everything from heavy breathing to discussions about sexual desires and problems.

The caller identifies himself only as “Dave,” Potenza said. He speaks with an accent and has told nurses that he moved to this country from Hong Kong three months ago, he said.

In each case, the caller was advised to come in for psychiatric help or was referred to other agencies for counseling, emergency room director Dr. Steven J. Schepper said.

But the man called again about 11 p.m. Saturday, emergency room personnel said.

“The emergency room was so busy, they didn’t have time to spend with him,” Potenza said. “Evidently, he wasn’t too happy about that.”

Hospital officials said they believe that the man then began randomly calling families throughout the San Fernando Valley, telling them their relatives had been involved in accidents.

In two cases, the caller said that the family’s phone number was the only identification found on the victims, hospital officials said. He then asked if the person who answered the phone could come to the hospital and identify the body.

A Sunland woman, tears streaming down her face, arrived at the emergency room looking for her brother after being notified that he was dead, Schepper said. Nurses in the emergency room called several other hospitals before realizing the hoax, he said.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of anything like this in medicine,” said Dr. Alan Kuban, a physician for 12 years and associate director of Humana Hospital’s emergency room.

Call Hospital to Verify

Schepper said people receiving such phone calls should telephone the hospital before rushing to the emergency room.

Family members told hospital officials that the caller identified himself as “Dr. Rosenberg.” A man giving that name also called the emergency room early Sunday morning to ask if the families of three accident victims had arrived, Schepper said. He said the nurse who answered the call recognized the voice, and believes the caller was the same distraught man who telephones to complain about his sexual problems.

The emergency room received a second call from a “Dr. Rosenberg” about 3 a.m. Sunday, officials said. This time, the caller said he was having a heart attack and requested an ambulance. Hospital personnel said he was told to call the 911 emergency number.

There is no “Dr. Rosenberg” on staff at Humana, hospital officials said.

Police were investigating the calls Sunday.