Thursday, April 16, 2009

Update on VA funeral home abuse story

Army vet’s family sues Va. funeral home

FAIRFAX, Va. — The family of an Army veteran whose body was allegedly mishandled as it awaited burial at Arlington National Cemetery is suing a Fairfax County funeral home.

The lawsuits against National Funeral Home and parent company Service Corporation International of Houston seek $60 million in damages.

The family alleges that the body of retired Army Col. Andrew DeGraff was left in an unrefrigerated garage and “negligently defiled” as it sat in storage more than two months between his death in October and burial at Arlington in January.

The four lawsuits follow a report in The Washington Post that numerous bodies were neglected by the home, which was already on probation with state regulators.

An SCI spokeswoman said an investigation is under way.

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