Dear Editor,

I wish to suggest to the director of legal medicine/government pathologist and the police, that the present situation regarding on-the-spot post-mortem of decomposed bodies and the storage of decomposed bodies in cemeteries to await post-mortem be discontinued forthwith, as it poses serious public health risks.

The director of legal medicine should issue verbal or written permission to the contracted funeral home to preserve (embalm) the body in order that the post-mortem can be done in a dignified manner without compromising the results.

In other jurisdictions, a funeral director/embalmer may embalm a body for burial without first obtaining a burial order or death certificate. In a case where a post-mortem has to be done to determine cause(s) of death, embalming of the body does not compromise the result of the autopsy.

I urge the powers that be to look at this option in order to maintain the dignity of the deceased and uphold the professionalism of the funeral industry.

If this procedure were adopted, there would be no need for the fast-track clearance of a refrigerated container, which could result in the compromise of the post-mortem result.

Joseph M Cornwall Snr

Funeral Director

House of Tranquility Funeral Home

Kingston

tranquillityfh@yahoo.com