Crash victim's family sues over mix-up

[crabcake]

I'd think they should be happy enough that their loved one IS alive and not 6 feet under.

 

[sunflower]

Money hungry. :shrug:

 

[SouthernMdRocks]

Money hungry. :shrug:

They should be ashamed.

 

[kwillia]

Money hungry. :shrug:

That was my first thought until I actually read up on the case... IMO the coroner dropped the ball royally and as a result misidentified the victim. Based on what I had read, this would have never happened had the coroner followed basic procedures. There is no justification as to why the dead girl was not properly identified.

 

[sunflower]

They should be ashamed.

They got a second chance with their daughter. I think most would love to be able to get that. Be Thankful..

 

[kwillia]

They got a second chance with their daughter. I think most would love to be able to get that. Be Thankful..

The coroner did not do the basics of his job and should be held accountable. He is the one that should be ashamed.

 

[crabcake]

That was my first thought until I actually read up on the case... IMO the coroner dropped the ball royally and as a result misidentified the victim. Based on what I had read, this would have never happened had the coroner followed basic procedures. There is no justification as to why the dead girl was not properly identified.

Okay, but wouldn't it make more sense (and perhaps, be more 'of taste') for the family of the deceased to be filing that suit? :shrug: That, I could respect.

The family who got their daughter back, essentially? No way ... tacky, tacky, tacky.

 

[sunflower]

That was my first thought until I actually read up on the case... IMO the coroner dropped the ball royally and as a result misidentified the victim. Based on what I had read, this would have never happened had the coroner followed basic procedures. There is no justification as to why the dead girl was not properly identified.

I get what your saying. Im sure it was hard for both set of parents involved. Accidents happen. And this was a terrible one.

 

[SouthernMdRocks]

The coroner did not do the basics of his job and should be held accountable. He is the one that should be ashamed.

He should be fired, he did cause terrible grief but the thought of having your child back I think would overcome any grief.

 

[kwillia]

Okay, but wouldn't it make more sense (and perhaps, be more 'of taste') for the family of the deceased to be filing that suit? :shrug: That, I could respect.

The family who got their daughter back, essentially? No way ... tacky, tacky, tacky.

I am sure there was MAJOR trauma and anguish involved in having to bury and say goodbye to who they thought was their daughter when in fact they were robbed of being able to provide support and make medical decisions for their real daughter. The coroner not taking the time to identify the victim was an abomination.

 

[MMDad]

Okay, but wouldn't it make more sense (and perhaps, be more 'of taste') for the family of the deceased to be filing that suit? :shrug: That, I could respect.

The family who got their daughter back, essentially? No way ... tacky, tacky, tacky.

If their daughter were alive because of the coroner, I would agree it's tacky. But the truth is that his incompetence was responsible for them having to go through the entire greiving process in the first place.

Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine going through the whole process of burying your child, and beleiving she was dead for weeks. Obviously, the joy at finding out she was alive would be great, but you could never get those weeks of agonizing grief back.

While they do not deserve some crazy huge amount, what happened to them was wrong and they have every right to seek redress in the only legal way.

 

[kwillia]

If their daughter were alive because of the coroner, I would agree it's tacky. But the truth is that his incompetence was responsible for them having to go through the entire greiving process in the first place.

Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine going through the whole process of burying your child, and beleiving she was dead for weeks. Obviously, the joy at finding out she was alive would be great, but you could never get those weeks of agonizing grief back.

While they do not deserve some crazy huge amount, what happened to them was wrong and they have every right to seek redress in the only legal way.

... and don't forget they were robbed of making medical decisions for their daughter that was hooked to a bazillion machines and in a coma.

 

[crabcake]

I am sure there was MAJOR trauma and anguish involved in having to bury and say goodbye to who they thought was their daughter when in fact they were robbed of being able to provide support and make medical decisions for their real daughter. The coroner not taking the time to identify the victim was an abomination.

I'm not saying it was a cake-walk for them to go through what they experienced. I agree the coroner did a piss poor job. It just seems more appropriate for the family who ended up really suffering a loss to be filing this suit.

 

[kwillia]

I'm not saying it was a cake-walk for them to go through what they experienced. I agree the coroner did a piss poor job. It just seems more appropriate for the family who ended up really suffering a loss to be filing this suit.

Who says they won't? Both families have been wronged by this man and both deserve compensation. It wasn't as if he had to make a judgement call and made a bad choice. He did not identify the victim. If I have my facts straight, he went on heresay from witnesses saying who they thought she was.

 

[SouthernMdRocks]

Who says they won't? Both families have been wronged by this man and both deserve compensation. It wasn't as if he had to make a judgement call and made a bad choice. He did not identify the victim. If I have my facts straight, he went on heresay from witnesses saying who they thought she was.

Geez, what an idiot if that is true.

 

[crabcake]

It doesn't seem to me that he did anything technically illegal. :shrug:

Another major change proposed by the proposed bill would require coroners to use fingerprint identification, DNA analysis, dental records or a positive identification by an immediate family member in all but the most extreme cases. In the Cerak case, the Grant County coroner used none of those means, instead relying on a photo ID and help from Taylor University officials.

Dick Alfeld Allen County’s chief deputy coroner and a board member for the Indiana State Coroners Association, said the identification rules leave little leeway for coroners but that the association accepts the proposed change.

Source

I read that to mean that what he did -- at that time -- was done in accordance with whatever laws were in place -- at that time. Now, they're being changed, and that's a good thing. But if he wasn't required then to use any other means -- regardless of what a shiatty situation it created, and I agree it did! -- it doesn't seem like any laws were broken. :shrug:

 

[mainman]

It doesn't seem to me that he did anything technically illegal. :shrug:






Source

I read that to mean that what he did -- at that time -- was done in accordance with whatever laws were in place -- at that time. Now, they're being changed, and that's a good thing. But if he wasn't required then to use any other means -- regardless of what a shiatty situation it created, and I agree it did! -- it doesn't seem like any laws were broken. :shrug:

I don't really see any violation of the law either... Just a lazy medical examiner, if in fact there was any question at all as to the identity of the 2 girls (which there should have been, the article even said they bore a striking resemblance), a full autopsey should have been conducted for identification purposes alone....

 

[kwillia]

I don't really see any violation of the law either... Just a lazy medical examiner, if in fact there was any question at all as to the identity of the 2 girls (which there should have been, the article even said they bore a striking resemblance), a full autopsey should have been conducted for identification purposes alone....

He took the lazy way out and should be held accountable.

And another thing... that girl is most likely living a beauracratic(sp?) hell on earth right now. Can you imagine the red tape both families are having to endure just in medical coverage issues alone. You think you have fun dealing with standard day to day billing issues, imagine the nightmare they are going through having to straighten out the mess of weeks of expenses being billed to the wrong girl... and then there is the burial expenses and well as having to re-establish that she is really alive and kicking... this means dealing with social security office, her place of work, schools and I'm sure a list I can't even think of right now.

 

[crabcake]

He took the lazy way out and should be held accountable.

And another thing... that girl is most likely living a beauracratic(sp?) hell on earth right now. Can you imagine the red tape both families are having to endure just in medical coverage issues alone. You think you have fun dealing with standard day to day billing issues, imagine the nightmare they are going through having to straighten out the mess of weeks of expenses being billed to the wrong girl... and then there is the burial expenses and well as having to re-establish that she is really alive and kicking... this means dealing with social security office, her place of work, schools and I'm sure a list I can't even think of right now.

How is it really the "lazy way out" if he wasn't required by state law to do anything else? :shrug:

I don't think anyone is unsympathetic to the emotions and turmoil borne by the families or victims. Hell, I even feel sorry for the medical examiner who probably feels like stir-fried shiat for his error. But in this case, all those things are small potatoes to the family who now DOES have their daughter back. And for the family who's daughter is gone, my guess is that they'd take all that turmoil ten-fold to have their daughter alive. I'd say they had it worse ... to go through finding out about the accident, learning their daughter made it, sitting by her bed for weeks awaiting recovery, then ... OOPS! Sorry, your kiddo is the one in plot 415 at the cemetery. Now THOSE folks have a case to sue over, IMO.

As for the burden of medical bills, sorting all that out, etc., they should go after the truck driver and/or his insurance ... he's the one who caused this entire mess; not the medical examiner.

 

[kwillia]

How is it really the "lazy way out" if he wasn't required by state law to do anything else? :shrug:

I don't think anyone is unsympathetic to the emotions and turmoil borne by the families or victims. Hell, I even feel sorry for the medical examiner who probably feels like stir-fried shiat for his error. But in this case, all those things are small potatoes to the family who now DOES have their daughter back. And for the family who's daughter is gone, my guess is that they'd take all that turmoil ten-fold to have their daughter alive. I'd say they had it worse ... to go through finding out about the accident, learning their daughter made it, sitting by her bed for weeks awaiting recovery, then ... OOPS! Sorry, your kiddo is the one in plot 415 at the cemetery. Now THOSE folks have a case to sue over, IMO.

As for the burden of medical bills, sorting all that out, etc., they should go after the truck driver and/or his insurance ... he's the one who caused this entire mess; not the medical examiner.

Grant County officials on Monday received the tort claim, a legal step required under state law before a government agency can be sued. The claim argues Mowery was "not properly trained and educated" as a coroner and that he "failed to exercise reasonable care" to avoid the misidentification.

I do not see a problem with their lawsuit. As for your last paragraph... you missed my point entirely.