Family Says Funeral Home Returned Organs
Posted on: Wednesday, 16 February 2005, 18:00 CST
MADISON, W.Va. - A family claims a deceased relative's organs were among personal belongings returned by a funeral home as they were preparing for the wake.
The family of Charles Quarles Sr. has filed a lawsuit in Boone County Circuit Court against Armstrong Funeral Home of Whitesville, Charleston Mortuary and the state Medical Examiner's Office. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for emotional distress, mental anguish, lost sleep, embarrassment and humiliation. It also seeks to recover the cost of medical treatment they received after seeing the organs.
Quarles died on Oct. 7, 2003. Two days later, an Armstrong employee gave Charles Quarles Jr. two large plastic bags when the family went to the funeral home to make arrangements for the wake. The employee allegedly told the family that the bags contained Charles Quarles Sr.'s personal belongings, according to the lawsuit.
When family members later opened the bags, they discovered that one contained "their decedent's internal organs surrounded by blood and other body fluids," the lawsuit claimed.
"Plaintiffs suffer now and will suffer in the future a horrible final image of their decedent that is forever etched in their minds," the lawsuit said.
The defendants denied the lawsuit's claims in court filings, saying they don't have specific knowledge of the allegations
"We believe the evidence will ultimately show us non-negligent," said Colleen McCulloch, the funeral home's lawyer.
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Information from: Charleston Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.com
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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