Allen: I don’t know what has provoked you into such a tirade of comments, but you need to calm down. Accusing people of ignoring you while insulting them is not the way to get a response. Do you think the small FCA staff (two full-time people and one half-timer) sits around doing nothing but monitoring comments on blog posts? No one promised you a 24-hour response on a blog comment. Had you called the office, or sent an email indicating you had an urgent need, someone would have gotten back to you. 1. No one is advocating breaking laws. What you don’t understand is that many (in fact, most) laws around the country that require refrigeration or burial within a certain time-frame apply to *commercial funeral directors*, not to the actions of private families in their homes. In the cases where these laws apply to families as well, dry ice easily satisfies the cooling requirements. We know the laws in all 50 states, Allen, and they’re not identical to the laws in whichever state you might be writing from. We take our duty to be accurate seriously. 2. No one is advocating transporting bodies open, dripping with blood, in the back of a pick-up. This is a gruesome fantasy on your part, and I don’t know why you immediately leap to that. Can you not understand why a family who cares very much about their deceased loved one would want to continue that care privately? Have you no sympathy for them? Can you not imagine wanting to to do the very same for your family? As it happens, I’ve spoken to many families who’ve cared for a dead member who’s been autopsied. Some appreciate the help of a funeral director to put the body back together, others have chose -yes, whether you believe it or not – to do this care themselves. Of course, anyone dealing with a body that’s been opened should be using universal precautions, latex gloves, and the like. It is not your business (or my business), however, to pry into what a private family chooses to do, whether you approve of it or not. Laws are not being broken will nilly by home funeral families, and I don’t know where you’re getting this idea. As I explained to you in another comment, I don’t think you understand that the licensing regulations you have to obey as a funeral director usually do *not* have legal authority over private families. As you can see, you are welcome to post comments here, and you are not being censored (even though you’re quite insulting and you’re accusing families of illegal and macabre behavior). But fair warning: do not continue to throw about insults and venom and expect to have a free sandbox to do it in. If you can’t act like a gentleman and have a civilized conversation, I will start deleting your posts. We do not hate funeral directors; we object to limitations on family choice, and we object to abusive practices. We know many fine funeral directors, including many who support a family’s right to care for their own dead. They understand that it’s a privilege to serve a family at a time of grief, and that the dead do not belong to them, but to their own kin. Do you?
