When you read the details of Josh Barnett’s story on A1 about trying to right the record on his mother’s apparent COVID-19-related death, something doesn’t add up.

But not from him — from the Oregon Health Authority.

As far as we (and he) can tell, his mother, Theresa Malec, who died in mid-December, is the woman listed by the OHA as the 14th COVID-19-related death in Wallowa County.

His family is the first that we are aware of in the county to refute COVID-19 having a role in a loved one’s death. The death certificate, and Barnett, both state the cause of Malec’s death was liver cancer.

Barnett offered to share the certificate with the Chieftain. Following an interview, he gave us permission to publish the cause of death information and that portion of the document.

And after looking at what was provided by Barnett and speaking to him, and then looking at what OHA has given, Barnett’s case is much more compelling than the state’s.

For one, Malec’s passing occurred more than four months after her positive COVID test in August, which, by Barnett’s account, she had fully recovered from. Even OHA’s own documents say for a passing to be counted as a COVID-related death, the time limit from an individual’s first known positive test or symptom onset to their passing is 60 days.

OHA also counts a COVID-19-related death if the death certificate lists specific COVID-related codes. Yet the death certificate for Barnett’s mother has no such code listed, and the only mention of her COVID history on the document states there were two negative tests.

(Interestingly, while it doesn’t seem to apply here, the other criteria for a COVID-19-related death is “Death from any cause in a hospitalized person during their hospital stay or in the 60 days following discharge and a COVID-19-positive laboratory diagnostic test at any time since 14 days prior to hospitalization” (emphasis ours). Does that not strike anyone as odd?)

To be fair, we cannot be 100% certain that the woman in the OHA report is Malec, as OHA has not — and said it cannot — provide identifying information. The entity also could not confirm if Barnett’s mother, when given her name, was the individual. And yes, Barnett said it was OK for us to ask the OHA that question, as well.

But when you look at the timeline for Malec’s passing, in a county as small as Wallowa County, it’s pretty easy to put two and two together.

More details are needed to get to the bottom of this particular case, but at the moment, Malec’s passing — and Barnett’s account and document — raises some serious questions about the validity of OHA’s data in this case, and could weaken its overall credibility.

This is not written to discredit the losses felt by people who have been severely impacted by COVID. There is no doubt it’s real, and many have died from it.

But as you look a little deeper into OHA’s data, it’s clear something does not add up.