How do you dispose of a dead body?

[Anonymous]

When my mom passed, I called the funeral home at 6 am on Xmas eve. She died by the Bay Bridge but we wanted her at Ft. Lincoln. They were there within the hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We called hospice and they came over, then we called the funeral home. I will say that hospice's #1 priority was confiscating all meds. It was sort of crazy because it was 3am in the morning and everyone is crying, but hospice kept hunting meds.

OP, this is actually a thing you could help your relative with, if you are local. Collecting up meds and equipment that will need to be returned - particularly the meds - as you know that hospice is winding down, would be logistically helpful and is not likely to be something the partner is able to think about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We called hospice and they came over, then we called the funeral home. I will say that hospice's #1 priority was confiscating all meds. It was sort of crazy because it was 3am in the morning and everyone is crying, but hospice kept hunting meds.

God forbid I ever have to deal with hospice, but if I do, they’re not “confiscating” anything without a badge, a gun or a court order. I understand the concern about diversion. I also understand that transferring certain pharmaceuticals might be construed as distribution. I am capable of destroying things myself and would be happy to let them watch and facilitate. One of the issues with some hospice programs is the doctrinaire, controlling, even domineering, character of certain of their personnel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We called hospice and they came over, then we called the funeral home. I will say that hospice's #1 priority was confiscating all meds. It was sort of crazy because it was 3am in the morning and everyone is crying, but hospice kept hunting meds.

God forbid I ever have to deal with hospice, but if I do, they’re not “confiscating” anything without a badge, a gun or a court order. I understand the concern about diversion. I also understand that transferring certain pharmaceuticals might be construed as distribution. I am capable of destroying things myself and would be happy to let them watch and facilitate. One of the issues with some hospice programs is the doctrinaire, controlling, even domineering, character of certain of their personnel.

I haven't found that to be the case at all, and have worked with four different hospice providers for close relatives. Clearly, you had a poor provider experience to have such a strong reaction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We called hospice and they came over, then we called the funeral home. I will say that hospice's #1 priority was confiscating all meds. It was sort of crazy because it was 3am in the morning and everyone is crying, but hospice kept hunting meds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You call the hospice or doctor and they will call emt and they will call funeral home. Best to make a plan in advance though. I’m sorry.

You want hospice to call. Otherwise it has to be treated as potential crime/foul play and no one needs that. Good luck and thank you for being a caring friend.

WTH - this isn't accurate right? When my grandfather died, even though we had hospice, we called the crematorium directly. No one came out and investigated a crime. Has anyone heard of this happening?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We called hospice and they came over, then we called the funeral home. I will say that hospice's #1 priority was confiscating all meds. It was sort of crazy because it was 3am in the morning and everyone is crying, but hospice kept hunting meds.

God forbid I ever have to deal with hospice, but if I do, they’re not “confiscating” anything without a badge, a gun or a court order. I understand the concern about diversion. I also understand that transferring certain pharmaceuticals might be construed as distribution. I am capable of destroying things myself and would be happy to let them watch and facilitate. One of the issues with some hospice programs is the doctrinaire, controlling, even domineering, character of certain of their personnel.

I haven't found that to be the case at all, and have worked with four different hospice providers for close relatives. Clearly, you had a poor provider experience to have such a strong reaction.

For the record, I was VERY glad that hospice personnel dealt with all the morphine. There are family members who would have happily gotten their hands on it and that would have been disastrous. (Also, they didn't get or deal with everything - only what they provided. So I'm still left holding meds I'd rather not deal with - morphine included.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We called hospice and they came over, then we called the funeral home. I will say that hospice's #1 priority was confiscating all meds. It was sort of crazy because it was 3am in the morning and everyone is crying, but hospice kept hunting meds.

God forbid I ever have to deal with hospice, but if I do, they’re not “confiscating” anything without a badge, a gun or a court order. I understand the concern about diversion. I also understand that transferring certain pharmaceuticals might be construed as distribution. I am capable of destroying things myself and would be happy to let them watch and facilitate. One of the issues with some hospice programs is the doctrinaire, controlling, even domineering, character of certain of their personnel.

Huh? If it has the deceased's name on the prescription bottle, it isn't yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You call the hospice or doctor and they will call emt and they will call funeral home. Best to make a plan in advance though. I’m sorry.

You want hospice to call. Otherwise it has to be treated as potential crime/foul play and no one needs that. Good luck and thank you for being a caring friend.

WTH - this isn't accurate right? When my grandfather died, even though we had hospice, we called the crematorium directly. No one came out and investigated a crime. Has anyone heard of this happening?

I believe this is accurate. A very elderly relative of mine died of natural causes in the home of her daughter. The relative was under a doctor’s care, but not hospice, and the police had to go to the house to fill out paperwork. It was routine, and no one accused anyone of anything, but it was still upsetting to the adult daughter who was the caretaker for her elderly mother.