Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Death Investigations series. (Part three); New Jersey: A brilliantly written NJ.com special investigation, by reporters Stephen Stirling and S.P. Sullivan, which explains why you might not want to die in New Jersey. Perfect heading: From a journalistic point of view it's a heading to die for: "Death and Dysfunction."Death and Dysfunction: "How New Jersey fails the dead, betrays the living and is a national disgrace."..."An 18-month NJ Advance Media investigation for NJ.com found serious failures at nearly every level of New Jersey’s patchwork system of medical examiner offices, the obscure agencies charged with one of the most fundamental tasks: figuring out how somebody died and why. The probe revealed families left to grieve without answers or closure, innocent people sent to jail and murders still unsolved. Ask pathologists across the country and they’ll tell you about New Jersey."


STORY: "Death and Dysfunction: How New Jersey fails the dead, betrays the living and is a national disgrace,  by Stephen Stirling and S.P. Sullivan, published  on December 14, 2017. which explains why you might not want to die in New Jersey. (A superb investigation: HL);
  
GIST:  "You’re dead in New Jersey. You’re a teenager hit by a train and the circumstances are murky. You’re an infant who died suddenly in the middle of the night. You’re a middle-aged woman found covered in stab wounds on your bedroom floor.   This is a state of 9 million people with a $35 billion annual budget. Surely, someone will get to the bottom of it. But what if the cops at the scene moved key evidence in their haste? What if the pathologist who sliced you open had a troubled past? What if you were buried before they had all the facts? What if New Jersey’s entire system for investigating deaths was a national disgrace? An 18-month NJ Advance Media investigation for NJ.com found serious failures at nearly every level of New Jersey’s patchwork system of medical examiner offices, the obscure agencies charged with one of the most fundamental tasks: figuring out how somebody died and why. The probe revealed families left to grieve without answers or closure, innocent people sent to jail and murders still unsolved. Ask pathologists across the country and they’ll tell you about New Jersey. They’ll tell you it’s so bad that slowly decomposing bodies sometimes clog storage rooms of morgues by the dozens, stacked two to a gurney, awaiting examination or burial for months. Ask New Jersey’s past two top medical examiners and they’ll tell you they resigned in protest over a lack of money and power to fix things. Governors and lawmakers for nearly four decades have largely ignored the system’s shortcomings and the tragic consequences, and failed to demand answers. Ask funeral directors and they’ll tell you about body parts gone missing and mangled corpses. Data shows families wait an average of four months to learn from the state’s busiest offices how their loved ones died. That’s twice the national standard. And that’s if the dead get examined at all. Experts estimate an effective system should be run in New Jersey for about $31.5 million a year. That's $3.50 per resident, or about the cost of a gallon of milk per person. Right now, taxpayers pony up about $26 million for a system marred by neglect and dysfunction. The newest state medical examiner, Andrew Falzon, has won praise for trying to right the ship since he was confirmed to the post last year. The state has hired more pathologists and support staff, improved turnaround times for autopsies and brought in an outside monitor to study the system and recommend changes.   Yet past studies and recommendations still collect dust, as do the many reform bills that have been introduced in the state Legislature since 2003, all of them going nowhere.  Why? Because you’re dead in New Jersey, and the dead don’t vote." Read on at the link below:  (How can you resist? HL);

The entire story can be found at the link below:


http://death.nj.com/2/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog."