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Jan

21

Your waste of a brain: OH SupCo case in court Wednesday tosses it around


You can read about the case, Mark Albrecht et al. v. Brian Treon, M.D., et al., Case no. 2007-0507, here.

Here’s the lede from Ohio.com:

During an autopsy to determine why Christopher Albrecht had suddenly plunged his vehicle into a pond and drowned, the Hamilton County coroner removed Albrecht’s brain and never put it back.

Though the practice is standard for coroners, Albrecht’s parents didn’t know for years that they had buried their son without his brain.

When they found out, they filed a lawsuit that raises sweeping ethical, moral and religious questions about the treatment of one’s body after death.

I gotta tell you – I’d want that brain in there too.  But you know what, my oldest son said, “Why, Mom? He’s dead.”

Yeah, well, I just think that brain should be in there.

For the brains:

The Albrechts argue that they had a right under the Ohio Constitution to their son’s brain and a right under the U.S. Constitution to be given an opportunity to reclaim the brain before it was destroyed. The lawsuit is a class action against coroners and commissioners in 87 of Ohio’s 88 counties covering cases dating to 1991.

…

“What this case really comes down to is, for the convenience of the government, are we Ohioans, we humans, supposed to give up our most basic rights to the human remains of our loved ones?” said John Metz, an attorney who brought the Albrechts’ suit. “I am absolutely amazed to have to be standing in front of the highest court in our state to defend against such a socialist view.”

Against the brains:

Defenders of the coroners, including the Ohio State Coroners Association, Ohio State Medical Association and the National Association of Medical Examiners, contend that establishing property rights for families to the organs, tissue, blood and other fluids extracted during an autopsy could jeopardize timely autopsies and risk the resulting criminal evidence.

“The longer you wait to perform an autopsy, the more evidence and information you lose,” said Elizabeth Mason, an assistant Clermont County prosecutor leading the county coroners’ defense.

Brains are particularly difficult to reunite with a body in time for burial, because it takes three to 14 days to prepare them for examination.

Ohio law says:

Under Ohio law, brains, hearts and other body parts and fluids removed during an autopsy are classified as medical waste, which generally means they are incinerated after use.

Medical waste? My dead brain?

Sigh.  This week is starting off very strangely.  Read the whole article – there’s a lot more in there.

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By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:23 am January 21st, 2008 in Courts, Culture, Health Care, Law, Ohio, Social Issues 

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