Finally! Cause of death comes after year-long wait

Dear Claudienne,

I am writing with regard to the pathology report of my brother, who was found dead at his home on Tuesday, October 18, 2022. His body was taken to the House of Tranquility Funeral home where the autopsy was done on Thursday, November 3, 2022.

They weren’t able to ascertain the cause of his death at that time, so samples were sent to the forensic lab for further testing. My brother was a type one diabetic and I know of two instances where he was admitted to Kingston Public Hospital and the University Hospital of the West Indies for treatment. He took his illness seriously as he had taken steps to lose a lot of weight.

It’s now over nine months and the family is still waiting on the result. Several calls were placed to the forensic lab by a relative who unfortunately didn’t get the name of the person she spoke to. The person she spoke to informed her that the pathologist who conducted the autopsy is no longer there.

No definite time was given as to when the report would be ready. The form that has to be filled out by the pathologist was handed to him by a family member on the day of the autopsy. The pathologist refused to fill out the form because he said he did not know the cause of death.

I am really disappointed with the level of unprofessionalism of personnel working in some of these government-run agencies as it seems no one is held accountable for their actions.

I have given up on asking someone to call the forensic lab as they are very hard to reach. I want to send someone there, but I don’t want to be given the run-around any longer. I need to know what is really going on. I am sure they are well aware that the result is important as nothing can be done without it. I am well aware of the high death rate but steps should be taken to speed up the process.

I would appreciate your help.

NZ Dear NZ,

When Tell Claudienne contacted the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine, on September 5, 2023, the Acting Senior Director of Human Resource Management Development and Administration sent the column the following email.

“Firstly, please convey my condolences to the relatives of the deceased. Let me also apologise for the lengthy delay in receiving the post-mortem report for their relative.

It is important to note that the process takes a while. The samples are sent to the National Public Health Lab for testing after which it is returned to us; it should be noted that we just received the slides last week.

The pathologist who conducted the autopsy is currently on training overseas; this means that another pathologist will have to read the slides and prepare the report.

Please be advised that another pathologist has volunteered to do it; however, he did not gave an exact date when same will be done, but he has committed to do it in a reasonable time.

Please ask the relative to exercise a little bit more patience in this matter which will be resolved soon.”

Tell Claudienne notes that on Tuesday, February 27, the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine called and informed you that the report is ready for collection by the police. Please contact the police.

We wish you all the best.

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