The parents of a Pennsylvania woman who died after attending an icy-water Polar Bear Plunge at the New Jersey shore have lost their legal case against a hospital and a doctor who pronounced her dead by telephone from miles away.

Sea Isle City lifeguard boat
Sea Isle City lifeguard boat (Sea Isle City)
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A federal jury disagreed with the arguments from suburban Philadelphia resident Tracy Hottenstein's family that paramedics could've done more to save her. Her body was found near a pier in Sea Isle City in February 2009.

The family's lawsuit said she may have been alive but suffering from hypothermia when paramedics arrived.

Hottenstein had been drinking with friends after the town's annual Polar Bear Plunge the previous night. She didn't take the plunge but fell off a pier later.

The lawsuit named AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center and the doctor who pronounced Hottenstein dead.

The verdict was reached Tuesday.

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