Berks County President Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl has removed Bean Funeral Homes and Cremation Services Inc. as defendants from a lawsuit filed by two assault victims.

Second Deputy Coroner Wally A. Woytovich and nurse’s aide Margaret M. Marino filed suit against Kevin M. Bean in 2006, alleging he assaulted them after Bean’s wife was found dead near the couple’s home.

Bean was convicted of aggravated and simple assault in January 2007, and is serving a one-to-four-year sentence.

The Illinois Funeral Directors Association is the defendant in a lawsuit filed by six association members over the handling of a pre-need funeral trust fund administered by IFDA Services, a for-profit arm of the non-profit IFDA.

The trust fund was designed to cover expenses for an estimated 49,000 people who took out policies.

The Illinois Controller’s office recently ruled that the IFDA should not have been in the pre-need insurance business; the association had been granted a license by then-controller Roland Burris, now a US Senator for Illinois.

The association is also facing a lawsuit from two consumers alleging violation of state consumer-protection laws.

A statement on the IFDA website says that Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust Co. FSB has assumed the responsibilities of trustee, and that any principal deposited towards pre-need accounts is safe.

The Ohio Supreme Court recently heard an interesting case. Who retains the right to a dead body? Christopher Albrecht’s parents think they should have all of him, but they don’t. He drowned in 2001 when his car overturned in a creek. As part of the autopsy, his brain was removed for examination. As part of that procedure, the brain is “fixed” in a solution of salt and formaldehyde to harden the tissue; this makes it easier to dissect. The procedure takes up to 2 weeks, meaning the autopsy isn’t completed for 2-3 weeks.

Ohio coroners are required to perform autopsies in certain situations.

The Albrechts think they should have been given his brain when the coroner was done with it; policy at the time classified it as medical waste, and it was incinerated. That’s part of state law now, but this case took place in 2001.

Does any person really think they get everything back after an autopsy? Putting aside the whole fluid issue, people should realize that tissue samples are taken for evidence if there’s any chance of a criminal case. Should that tissue be returned? When?

I’m sorry for their loss, but I think this suit is misguided. The coroner’s office probably should have made it clear they weren’t getting everything back, but I think it’s reasonable for the coroner to retain some tissue.