Detroit: Too broke to bury their dead

[oladub]

CNN gave Detroit some publicity. It seems that the bodies are piling up at the morgue on E. Warren because some people don't have the money to pay for a $695 cremation.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/01/news/economy/_morgue/

[Russix]

Why does it cost $695? Seems like it would cost the county more to keep them refrigerated indefinitely.

[lilpup]

L.A. County morgue was the poster child for this a few years ago. Tennessee is another place I've seen mentioned - http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...nessee+morgues

I'm sure it's happening a lot of places.

[MrJones]

To render a human body to ashes requires something like 2000 degrees sustained for two hours or even longer. That's a lot of firewood at $225 per cord.

[gumby]

Seems like it would cost the county more to keep them refrigerated indefinitely

Well technically it takes more energy to keep air cold than a solid. So the more bodies in the freezer the less open air the more efficient the freezer is.

[mauser]

To render a human body to ashes requires something like 2000 degrees sustained for two hours or even longer. That's a lot of firewood at $225 per cord.

And a lot of released energy. Hook a turbine up and generate some electricity for the grid while you are rendering the bodies.

[Chad]

Yeah, it seems like storing the bodies would cost more.

[ggores]

Hm. Cash crop, Detroit style, very nice. And I aint had breakfast yet.

[jtf1972]

Now you see, the typical headline would read:

BODIES PILE UP IN DETROIT

[esteban]

Couldn't corpses be fed into Detroit's glorious incinerator? At those high temperatures I believe the cadavers actually contribute energy in their immolation. "Power to the People, from the People!' Perhaps someone could come up with a better catch phrase?

[esteban]

Postscript: My Dad died earlier this year. Our family is not into organized religion, so when we snuff this mortal coil we contribute our bodies to science - essentially letting medical students carve us up for practice - and the into the oven with our cadavers. However, even though he died at U of M Medical center, and the body donation was in the hospital grounds - get this - BY LAW - a funeral director is called in and wheels the body down there - for a mere $550.

Could we not feed the funeral directors into the incinerator too - dead or alive?

[Lowell]

"... even though he died at U of M Medical center, and the body donation was in the hospital grounds - get this - BY LAW - a funeral director is called in and wheels the body down there - for a mere $550."

Absolutely amazing. Do any of the forum lawyers know where this law would be found.

[Stosh]

"... even though he died at U of M Medical center, and the body donation was in the hospital grounds - get this - BY LAW - a funeral director is called in and wheels the body down there - for a mere $550."

Absolutely amazing. Do any of the forum lawyers know where this law would be found.

I think that they were wrong in charging you. Read below the bolded section 3:

OCCUPATIONAL CODE [[EXCERPT)

Act 299 of 1980

339.1807 Holder of license for practice of mortuary science; registration with city or village registrar; transportation permit; receiving dead body for shipment or transportation; removal or shipping permit; shipping dead human body for anatomical purpose.

Sec. 1807.
[[1) The holder of a license for the practice of mortuary science shall register with the office of the registrar of each city or village in which the owner intends to practice. A transportation permit shall not be issued by the local registrar to a person who has not filed a registration card. A local registrar may grant a transportation permit to the holder of a license for the practice of mortuary science coming from beyond the jurisdiction of the registrar, upon the exhibition of a copy of the license to the registrar.
[[2) A railway agent, express agent, baggage master, or conductor shall not receive the dead body of a person for shipment or transportation by railway or other public conveyance, to or from a point in this state or to a point outside of this state, unless the body is accompanied by a removal or shipping permit.
[[3) This article shall not prevent the shipment of a dead human body intended for use for an anatomical purpose within this state if that body is designated by the shipper as intended for use for an anatomical purpose.

History: 1980, Act 299, Imd. Eff. Oct. 21, 1980
Popular Name: Act 299

[esteban]

I think that they were wrong in charging you. Read below the bolded section 3:

Yeah - that was 1980. This is a recently enacted new law. I was told it was changed by the lady at the U of M body donation department who was as outraged [[almost) as I was...