Legal Juice
Some folks just don’t know when to say “when.” June Woo, age 82, died on November 15, 2002. More than 4 years later, she is still in the morgue because her family won’t take custody of her body! Why?
According to the children, their mother was poisoned, a victim of “involuntary euthanasia.” They will not take the body becasue they are demanding that an inquest be held to investigate the death further. I use the word “further” because here is what we know so far:
On November 14, 2002, Ms. Wu was admitted to the hospital due to acute respiratory and renal failure, along with other long-standing health problems (including end-stage lung disease);
Her family was told that she might not survive the night. Ms. Woo died the following day;
Her family insisted that she died due to being over-medicated;
An autopsy report revealed that Ms. Woo was not over-medicated, and that “this lady was frail, elderly and in a poor general state of health.”
The coroner’s office retained one of the country’s top toxicology experts to review the matter, who agreed with the results of the autopsy.
Ms. Woo’s family was told that, since their mother died of natural causes, there would not be an inquest.
Not good enough! To this day, the Woos still refuse to claim their mother’s body! Although the government could bury her under the Burial Assistance Scheme, they have decided not to do so after discussing it with the Woo family. So Ms. Woo’s remains remain in the morgue, almost 4 1/2 years after she died, with no resolution in sight. To read more about this story, click here.