The loss of a loved one is a difficult time made even more difficult if the burden of making final arrangements falls on your shoulders. There are so many details to address: where to have the services, burial or cremation, music, flowers, pallbearers, and more. Often the director of the funeral home you choose will help guide you through some of these arrangements. During an emotional time when you may not be thinking clearly, this is someone you can trust to have your best interests at heart, right?Not necessarily…
On March 25, a regional appellate court in Rochester, NY reversed the conviction of a local funeral director who was accused of harvesting tissue samples from bodies slated for cremation without asking permission from the deceased’s loved ones.
Serrell Gayton was convicted in June 2009 and sentenced to one year in prison. This sentence was stayed pending his appeal. Biomedical Tissue Services had paid Gayton to provide access to bodies waiting to be cremated but neither the company nor Gayton sought permission from family members to harvest the samples.
The District Attorney argued Gayton defrauded the families of their right to choose how the bodies of their loved ones were disposed of. The judges decided Gayton could not be guilty of fraud since he was paid by Biomedical and not the families. They also stated the law does not view bodies as property; therefore, they did not belong to the next of kin.
I asked my Facebook audience what they thought about this issue and received a resounding vote in favor of putting the decision in the hands of the family members. A couple of you felt the director was in the right but only if the deceased was registered as an organ donor.
Here’s what some of you had to say:
Ruth:
I think it's completely wrong! There are certain religions that forbid the bodies be dismembered in any way. If this is allowed, lots of people will be denied certain rights of their church. Also, who knows what scientists will do with the DNA! Cloning may be in the future. People will have relatives they did not know exist!!
Della:
I think the family should be asked if they want to do it and if they choose not to then the funeral directors should obey the families’ wishes and not do it in secret.
Janet:
They make enough money out of someone's heart ache without getting paid for things family could give the hospital for free.
Thank you all for your thoughts and comments! Remember, this series is about you and what you THINK!
Continue to sound off here: http://on.fb.me/dYI8Ik
It may be important to you to have a funeral director who is a member of a professional association such as the Society of Allied & Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) or the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), because these organisations have codes of practice that their members must adhere to.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments! This is good information to have!
ReplyDeleteI followed up on the professional associations you mentioned and both appear to offer services only in the United Kingdom; however, I did find a similar association here in the United States. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) acts as an advisory and educational association for funeral directors throughout the United States. Anyone concerned about the qualifications of the funeral home they choose for their loved one can check them out through this association - http://www.nfda.org