It's 12:50 on Friday September 3, 2010

The wrinkles only go where the smiles have been.

Whose Body Is It?

The Ohio Supreme Court recently heard an interesting case. Who retains the right to a dead body? Christopher Albrecht’s parents think they should have all of him, but they don’t. He drowned in 2001 when his car overturned in a creek. As part of the autopsy, his brain was removed for examination. As part of that procedure, the brain is “fixed” in a solution of salt and formaldehyde to harden the tissue; this makes it easier to dissect. The procedure takes up to 2 weeks, meaning the autopsy isn’t completed for 2-3 weeks.

Ohio coroners are required to perform autopsies in certain situations.

The Albrechts think they should have been given his brain when the coroner was done with it; policy at the time classified it as medical waste, and it was incinerated. That’s part of state law now, but this case took place in 2001.

Does any person really think they get everything back after an autopsy? Putting aside the whole fluid issue, people should realize that tissue samples are taken for evidence if there’s any chance of a criminal case. Should that tissue be returned? When?

I’m sorry for their loss, but I think this suit is misguided. The coroner’s office probably should have made it clear they weren’t getting everything back, but I think it’s reasonable for the coroner to retain some tissue.

January 25, 2008 | Filed Under Industry, Law & Order | Leave a Comment 

Year-End Numbers

In case anyone is wondering, here’s what I did last year:

Rides: 445 This counts 2-county rides as 2 events, so the number of physical trips is probably a little lower, but this is what I get paid for.
Miles: about 15,500 That’s off from last year, as we moved quite a bit closer to town. Last year I was over 17,000 miles. Sorry it’s not exact, but I’ve been on a company motor for part of the year, and so I wasn’t tracking my mileage as closely as I did on my own bike.

Friday was my busiest day of the week, with 20.9% of my rides. The rest:
Sat – 16.85%
Monday – 16.40%
Sun – 0.22%
Thu – 15.51%
Wed – 15.28%
Tue – 14.83%

I rode for 33 different funeral homes, and went to 48 unique destinations. That includes runs where I dropped the procession at a church or at the county line.

Any other questions? Just ask.

January 2, 2008 | Filed Under Industry | Leave a Comment 

  • Tag Cloud

  • Raven’s Beak on Flickr

    www.flickr.com
    Raven's Beak's items Go to Raven's Beak's photostream

Bad Behavior has blocked 35 access attempts in the last 7 days.