Miscellaneous | InjuryBoard Novato

Three funeral directors in Philadelphia were charged last week with the illegal taking and selling of body parts. Bones, skin, tendons and spines were taken from bodies without the permission of the families, and most of the "donors" were not suitable due to their age, physical condition, or because of disease. Once the body parts were taken, the bodies were then sent for cremation. The...

I have previously written about the allegations against and conduct of the funeral director of Abby Mortuary in Rohnert Park, California. As you may recall, this was the incident where the mortuary was storing bodies in a rented warehouse, and, in some cases, storing them without refrigeration. The State Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, which regulates funeral directors, mortuaries, embalmers, and...

The owner of Forest Hill cemeteries in Memphis, Clayton Smart, allegedly embezzled millions from families who purchased pre-paid funeral policies, according to charges filed by the state. Mr. Smart is also accused of making off with $70 million in funeral home trust funds in Michigan. Mr. Smart appeared before Tennessee Chancery Court Judge Arnold Goldin this week. He was held in contempt of...

Former Louisville funeral director Nathaniel Anderson has his troubles. Although his license was suspended in 2006, he was arrested last February for storing a corpse without refrigeration at his business, Anderson Funeral Services. A customer identified the deceased as her mother, and said that the body was supposed to have been cremated, according to Channel 32 News, WLKY, in...

Reese Funeral Home in Washington, DC, was cited for allegedly not storing the bodies of the deceased at appropriate temperatures to prevent decay and for not having a licensed funeral director. The DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) also took enforcement actions against five other local funeral homes for not having proper licenses. Three of the funeral homes did not even...

Three funeral home directors and four employees of a biomedical supply company are accused of stealing body parts, organs and tissue from corpses awaiting cremation or burial. Other charges include opening graves, unlawful dissection and fraud. The defendants allegedly sold the parts to medical tissue banks, which provided them to hospitals and doctors for use in transplants and other medical...

A mortician's license was indefinitely suspended for improperly storing bodies, allowing them to decay in a warehouse without proper refrigeration. Anthony Villeggiante is co-owner of Abby Chapel of the Redwoods in Rohnert Park, California. The mortuary has now been shut down. When state inspectors checked the warehouse in March, they found nine bodies. A swamp cooler and baby powder did nothing...

The former owners of Bayview Crematory that was closed over two years ago after investigators discovered remains and a body in a broken cooler - have agreed to plead guilty to several charges. Charges included negligence and the filing of false tax returns.The crematorium that handled close to 2,000 bodies each year from funeral homes in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire had been operating...

An attorney since 1986, Mr. Kent has been an associate with Brayton Purcell since 1995. He works mainly in the areas of elder abuse (medical, financial, and nursing home issues), funeral and crematory law (negligent handling of decedent's remains), medical malpractice, unlawful business practices, toxic torts, and personal injury. In a recent landmark case, his clients won a large verdict...

Every day, Brayton Purcell LLP handles legal issues that our clients find overwhelming. Job injuries, serious medical conditions, accidents, and nursing home abuse are just a few examples. We aim to lessen these burdens by providing support, excellent advocacy, and dedicated service.We have won on behalf of: people injured by asbestos, tobacco, mold, MTBE, beryllium, benzene, lead and other...

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