Robert Bryce
(Cont'd) The problems with the embalming
Thu Oct 23 02:14:05 2003
64.140.159.12



The problems with the embalming were apparent almost immediately. When Hood's family members came to see his body, they were horrified. "I could see fluid coming out of his eyes and mouth. I guess it was embalming fluid. It looked terrible. I made them close the casket because he looked so bad," says Jeremy Johnson, Hood's younger brother. According to a lawsuit filed in June by Hood's parents against SCI, after Hood's casket was put into a mausoleum, "problems with odors, gnats and fluid seepage began to occur."

The ghastly details of Hood's embalming are just one part of the SCI-Eliza May story that are going to come out in the next few months. Discovery in the Hood lawsuit will begin soon and many of the same people that will testify in May's whistle-blower lawsuit will also be testifying in the Hood case.

While the political aspects of May's lawsuit cannot be ignored, even her detractors are expressing amazement at SCI's power play. Not only did the company stop the investigation and avoid paying any fines, it hired a lobbyist to write a bill and then convinced the Texas Legislature to pass a measure that overhauls the TFSC and strips it of some of its powers.

An early fan of May, TFSC Commissioner Hughes, a Bush appointee, says he lost confidence in her earlier this year and voted to dismiss her. But now that he's leaving the agency, Hughes admits being impressed with SCI's power. "SCI poured the money in the right places and kicked our butts out," he said. "They told us, 'We'll go to the governor and get this thing thrown out.' I didn't think they were that strong. I didn't think they could buy that many people."
salon.com | Aug. 20, 1999



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Robert Bryce is a staff writer for the Austin Chronicle.

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