In an email, Evardone
sent a copy of his authored Bill 5035: An Act Prohibiting the
Detention of Cadavers or Human Remains by Hospitals, Morgues, Funeral
Parlors and Medical clinics on grounds of Non-Payment of Hospital
Bills Medical Expenses and or Funeral Services.
Evardone cited that
our respect for the dead is part of our culture and tradition.
The lawmaker said that
he is alarmed that news reports on cadavers or human remains are being
detained in hospitals, morgues or medical institutions due to unpaid
bills.
He added that no law
has been passed prohibiting this act despite being able to pass a law
prohibiting detention of patients for the same reason.
Evardone added: “While
our libel laws prohibit the living to speak ill of someone who died,
or blacken the memory of the dead, we seem to permit this
“hostage-taking” practice of these hospitals, morgues, funeral
parlors. What quandary are we in?”
Evardone feels the
practice is just coercive and restrictive.
This 15th Congress,
Evardone seeks and prays for the enactment of the Anti-Detention of
Cadaver Act of 2011, into law.
