What happened to Edna Burton? Michigan hospital sued for allegedly losing a bone from patient's skull, leaving her bed-bound

A Detroit hospital is being sued by the family of Edna Burton for allegedly removing a part of her skull during a surgery, which left her bedridden.

According to the Oliver Bell Group, which is representing the family, Edna Burton underwent a decompressive right hemicraniectomy five days after arriving at Ascension St John Hospital for a stroke on June 14, 2023.

The procedure removes part of the skull to relieve pressure on the brain.

According to the Oliver Bell Group, the surgeon was "clear that the skull was to be preserved so it could be reattached after the swelling subsided."

However, when the time arrived, the hospital discovered that they had "lost a piece of the patient's skull," and the patient was told that the part of her skull was mixed up by them "with the body parts of another patient who had a similar name."

To prevent the mistake, the patient was allegedly "forced" to undergo a prosthetic replacement, which "lacks crucial benefits of the patient's God-given anatomy."

Following the surgery, Burton "stopped talking, really, stopped eating, like bed-bound, she had bed sores," her daughter, Erica, told WDIV.

"Her physical therapist said, 'I'm not going to continue to do physical therapy because we're torturing her with how much pain she's in.'"

She continued:

"They could say that it all, what she’s going through stemmed from the stroke - how do we know?" You threw her bone away. You didn’t even give her the chance."

Michigan woman claims hospital staff lost part of her skull during surgery and offered her a $25 gas station gift card as compensationpic.twitter.com/J6hRHvUTAS

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Attorney Cameron Bell, in a statement mentioned by Click On Detroit's December 17, 2025, report, claimed that the hospital is "suggesting she’s better off with the artificial skull compared to the natural God-given chunk of her skull," calling it "asinine."

The hospital staff allegedly offered Edna Burton a $25 gift card as an apology

The Oliver Bell Group further noted that after providing Edna Burton with a prosthetic replacement, "the patient was purportedly provided a $25.00 gas card by the hospital in compensation," which they described as "add[ing] insult to injury."

"This was a serious breach of the duties the hospital owed to our client. It is unacceptable and justice will be served," said Founding Partner and Attorney Alyson Oliver.

The purpose of the lawsuit is to hold Ascension St. John Hospital accountable and give Edna "full compensation to support her medical needs and well-being."

"Our client deserved dependable medical care during a life-threatening emergency. Instead, she suffered an avoidable and life-changing injury due to simple negligence," they added.

Burton's daughter stated that their reason for filing the lawsuit goes beyond seeking financial compensation.

"It’s not even about the money. You don’t know what you took from us. I got a 20-month-old baby, a 5-year-old daughter, and an 8-year-old son. It’s like, please let them remember their nana," she said.

Erica continued:

"They could say that it all, what she’s going through stemmed from the stroke - how do we know? You threw her bone away. You didn’t even give her the chance."

Stay tuned for more updates.