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(48,121 posts) Wed Jan 18, 2012, 09:09 PM Jan 2012

Bodies of the Poor Piling Up at Chicago Morgue [View all]

Bodies of the Poor Piling Up at Chicago Morgue

Times are so tough in Illinois that the state and its largest city are having a difficult time burying its poor.

In Chicago, bodies are stacking up in the city morgue because the medical examiner's office hasn't paid for the burial boxes used for the dead who were indigent.

At the office of the Cook County Medical Examiner, the morgue's cooler, built to hold 300 bodies, currently has 500, including a hundred babies. All of the decomposing corpses are too much for the room's ventilation system.

“There are so many bodies in there now, they can’t keep it cool enough. The stench is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” a source told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I think it’s sacrilegious."

http://www.allgov.com/Where_is_the_Money_Going/ViewNews/Bodies_of_the_Poor_Piling_Up_at_Chicago_Morgue_120118

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36 replies

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Bodies of the Poor Piling Up at Chicago Morgue [View all] The Straight Story Jan 2012 OP

Horrible. I mean that very sincerely, though I must add Mira Jan 2012 #1

This is a big issue at the hospice I work at in Chicago mucifer Jan 2012 #2

Funeral Costs Have Skyrocketed... KharmaTrain Jan 2012 #9

really sad. Liberal_in_LA Jan 2012 #22

More tax cuts, more cuts to social services, xchrom Jan 2012 #3

This is what the Capitalists, Neocons, Libertarians, Teabaggers...want. This Cal33 Jan 2012 #34

Don't worry, the poor aren't getting singled out Zalatix Jan 2012 #4

Then they can stand in line and vote every two years!! Manifestor_of_Light Jan 2012 #5

The machine is being managed very poorly... Capitalocracy Jan 2012 #6

Damn Solly Mack Jan 2012 #7

k&r for exposure. n/t Laelth Jan 2012 #8

Is cremation any cheaper? justiceischeap Jan 2012 #10

It's a lot cheaper. But, many people don't want it. mucifer Jan 2012 #11

I'd think if you are in a situation where you're asking for aid justiceischeap Jan 2012 #16

Yep, it's cheaper. I'm all for it -- my ashes are gonna fly around the Flint Hills. Ship of Fools Jan 2012 #12

That is where mine are going too. MuseRider Jan 2012 #29

Drown that baby in the bath tub, YEAH!!!!! Hassin Bin Sober Jan 2012 #13

Capital idea, my good sir, just capital MinervaX Jan 2012 #18

Tip: for those who can afford it lapislzi Jan 2012 #14

my mother insisted on cremation and prepaid for one. CTyankee Jan 2012 #17

I used to think I wanted cremation. Lately I'm back to burial. TwilightGardener Jan 2012 #21

There are "green" cemeteries in several states lapislzi Jan 2012 #23

That is interesting, thanks. TwilightGardener Jan 2012 #24

Really? I think of somebody hauling my body away to put in the ground when I could be reduced to ash CTyankee Jan 2012 #35

Unless something has changed, it is illegal to scatter ashes in Missouri The Genealogist Jan 2012 #36

error- this is not the chicago morgue. it is the cook county morgue. mopinko Jan 2012 #15

The Cook County Morgue is in Chicago. former9thward Jan 2012 #26

nonetheless this is the responsibility of cook county government. mopinko Jan 2012 #30

I agree with you there. former9thward Jan 2012 #31

I know this is macbre MinervaX Jan 2012 #19

Donation to a university cadaver program is free I believe riderinthestorm Jan 2012 #33

Cremation: It's not heartless, it's a solution, and it's cheap. For anyone who hasn't LeftinOH Jan 2012 #20

"Pile Up" ...a new B horror movie. L0oniX Jan 2012 #25

unfortunately, this movie won't be fictional. goforit Jan 2012 #28

This is not a new problem. former9thward Jan 2012 #27

the truck were for the big killed heat wave that we had. mopinko Jan 2012 #32