Wrong body taken from morgue for cremation
Eastern Health says security, funeral home staff did not follow protocols to ensure deceased’s ID
A funeral home took the wrong body from the Health Sciences Centre (HSC) morgue in St. John’s recently, only discovering the mistake after the deceased had been cremated.
Internal provincial government documents obtained by The Telegram this week reveal Premier Andrew Furey had been given briefing notes on the incident on April 19 by the Department of Justice and Public Safety.
“Anticipated questions: How did this happen? What is being done to ensure this never happens again?” the briefing document reads.
The date of the mix-up was redacted from the documents The Telegram obtained, as was the name of the funeral home involved.
The document indicates the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) — which shares morgue facilities with Eastern Health at the hospital — was made aware that incorrect human remains had been taken from the morgue and cremated due to a mistake by an employee of the funeral home and a member of Paladin Security, which is contracted by the health authority to provide security services.
When a body is to be released to a funeral home, a representative of the home obtains a copy of the death certificate before a member of the security staff accompanies them to the morgue, the document indicates. Security staff assists the funeral home representative with getting the body from the morgue; checking the identification on a toe tag against the name on the death certificate; checking to ensure an autopsy, if requested, had been completed; filling out two specific forms; and removing the body.
“The funeral home also has policies and procedures in place to ensure the correct remains are being cremated. These procedures failed to recognize the mistaken identity, ultimately resulting in the incorrect remains being cremated,” the document stated.
Eastern Health did not specify what part of the process had broken down when it responded to a request for comment, but said all steps had not been followed by security and funeral home staff.
“The policy outlines the requirements for documentation, transport, transfer and release to a funeral home. There is a two-check system that includes verification of the body’s identity by both security/eastern Health staff and the funeral home before being both released and accepted by the funeral home,” Eastern Health stated.
“Eastern Health has investigated this incident and, unfortunately, it was determined that due to human error not all steps outlined in the policy were followed by security and the funeral home.”
The health authority indicated it has been in touch with the family of the deceased to offer condolences. It has also added more training and education for security personnel and other staff involved with the release of remains from the morgue, in response to the incident.
It’s not known whether any disciplinary measure was taken against the security staff responsible.
The Telegram requested comment from the premier’s office, Health and Community Services Minister Dr. John Haggie and the Department of Justice and Public Safety, and received a singled emailed statement in response to those requests.
“As a government we would like to take the opportunity to offer condolences to the families involved in this difficult situation,” it read, directing questions about policy to Eastern Health.
The release of remains from the morgue isn’t within the authority of the OCME, the government said.
It’s not the first time human error has had tragic consequences in the morgue. The province initiated a review of the OCME in 2017 after the brain of an infant was lost, resulting in the dismissal of a murder charge against the baby’s father. Nova Scotia medical examiner Dr. Matthew Bowes produced a report, citing concerns about too few staff, overworked staff — including the chief medical examiner at the time — an out-of-date record system and a lack of formal policies and procedures within the OCME. Bowes found the shared morgue facilities to be inadequate.
Early last year a mix-up occurred involving DNA cross-contamination. It’s believed someone involved in the autopsy of a homicide victim took a wooden swab from a packet, thereby transferring the victim’s DNA from their glove to another swab in the pack. The second swab was subsequently used in a second homicide victim’s autopsy.
At that point, the province said it had implemented about 75 per cent of Bowes’ recommendations. On Wednesday, it said 50 of the 65 recommendations, about 77 per cent, are either complete or in progress.
By this time, they should all have been implemented, said Opposition justice critic and Harbour Main MHA Helen Conway-ottenheimer.
“I wonder why we’re here dealing with this very tragic incident right now. We can expect, and we should expect, that they would all be implemented four years later,” she said, offering sympathy to the affected families.
Conway-ottenheimer said she wonders how the mistake happened, and why no one was told about it.
“Why was this not immediately disclosed, keeping in line with the privacy interests of the family?” she asked. “It was in the public interest to be fully informed about this. The public has the right to have full transparency about this. When they’re laying their loved ones to rest they need to be confident that there’s adequate resources so that these kinds of things aren’t happening.”
Paul Dinn, Progressive Conservative MHA for Topsail-paradise and Opposition health critic, said he was shocked to learn of the situation, particularly in light of Bowes’ recommendations.
“I can’t imagine what the families are going through,” he said. “They may have been planning a funeral and learn the body has been cremated. I can’t fathom it.
“When I look at this, you’d say there must be checks and balances in place, there has to be a foolproof process. And yes, it may be human error, but the system itself should be strong enough that it would prevent anything like this from happening.
“This particular government has been wonderful on doing reports and task forces and reviews, but not so good on actioning the items,” Dinn said.
“We need to have better communication on these reports coming out and what is being actioned on them.”