ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A metro Atlanta family is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Northside Hospital.

They allege their loved one who was cognitively incapacitated had surgery without their consent.

Mark Palermo says his mother, 81-year-old Joyce Palermo, was hospitalized in the spring of 2023 for high blood pressure.

She was admitted to Northside Hospital Forsyth for 80 days, and during that time Mark says she became cognitively incapacitated.

Mark says he was notified that his mother may have needed to get a pacemaker, and he wanted to have a consultation with a doctor to discuss the risks. But he says that never happened.

Instead, Mark says he got a call from the hospital the next morning.

“They said when they put the micro-pacemaker in, they tore the inside of her heart and she was just bleeding out internally,” Mark said.

Mark says his mother died about 36 hours later.

Palermo’s family is now filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Northside Hospital. The 53-page complaint, which describes the pacemaker procedure as “unauthorized,” alleges negligence and medical battery.

You can read the lawsuit below:

“The family is really just seeking accountability and change. This shouldn’t happen. It shouldn’t have happened,” attorney Travis Knobbe said.

Mark says he wants to use his mother’s case to educate others and prevent this from happening again.

“We don’t want this to happen to anybody else. And we have skin in the game – we don’t want it to happen to us, either. So, we just want better communication, and there has to be some accountability,” Mark said.

The family’s attorneys say Northside Hospital has until Aug. 8 to respond to them in court.

Northside Hospital did not return Atlanta News First’s request for comment on Monday.

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