Funeral Industry in Connecticut

by Christine Moyer

WASHINGTON - The spotlight on Connecticut's funeral industry troubles may have dimmed, but some in the business are still wary about the industry's overall quality.

Last year's Wade Funeral Home scandal in New Haven, along with others in Georgia and Florida, brought attention to an industry that had been suffering from a lack of inspections nationwide. The controversy sparked change in Connecticut, but the question is, was it enough?

"I feel very uneasy about the fact that funeral homes are regulated so heavily and other areas of the industry, like crematoriums and cemeteries, are not," said Diana Duksa Kurz, a member of the executive board of the National Funeral Directors Association.

U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and U.S. Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) tried to confront the problem with legislation they introduced last year that would have made federal grant money available so states could hire more funeral industry inspectors. Dodd intends to introduce a similar bill this session.

"We didn't have an inspection for a while," said Kent Carlson, funeral director of the Carlson funeral home in New Britain, referring to the time surrounding the Wade Funeral Home scandal. "But now he [the inspector] came twice in the past year."

According to Carlson, the inspectors check to make sure that the business is running properly and that no bodies are stored where they should not be - a direct reference to the New Haven scandal, where five bodies were found in the garage of a funeral home.

"While most death care providers are decent, hard working people, there are those bad apples in the industry out to make a quick buck," Dodd said in a statement on Friday. He called a General Accounting Office report on the death care industry in six states "tremendously important. It helps shine a light on an industry that impacts millions of Americans and will hopefully weed out those bad apples.

" The report, which covers California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, New York and Texas between July 2002 and July 2003, showed the need to inspect crematoriums and cemeteries, according to Dodd's office.

Kurz, who manages two funeral homes in the state, said: "In Connecticut we have the same issues as in the GAO report. But frankly, in Connecticut there is already strong legislation."

However, she said, she recognizes the need to update the state laws. "It's just like anywhere else," she said. "Some legislation has been on the books forever, but times have changed."

These changes have sparked a controversy over the role that the federal government should play in regulating the funeral industry. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says he welcomes federal involvement.

But John Carmon, president of Carmon Community Funeral Homes, says he leans toward state regulation. "The federal government can't be everywhere," he said. "Each state regulates its own licensing."

According to Kurz, there are 300 funeral home locations in Connecticut and 255 of them are members of Connecticut's funeral association.

Dodd is not overly concerned about Connecticut's funeral industry, viewing the state's troubles with the industry as isolated problems.

Foley's office has not made any decisions on specific legislation but is leaning toward expanding the Federal Trade Commission's role so it can oversee cemeteries and crematoriums. This would cost $10 million and would help ensure these abuses don't occur again, a Foley aide said.