Va. Board Considers Changes to Funeral Regulations

FALLS CHURCH, VA. ? The board that oversees Virginia’s funeral services industry has proposed new regulations on the handling of human remains.

The proposal is a response to allegations of mishandled bodies at National Funeral Home in Falls Church. The home serves as a regional embalming and storage facility for Houston-based Service Corporation International and handles bodies awaiting burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Washington Post reported earlier this year that corpses at the home were left in an unrefrigerated garage, hallways and on makeshift gurneys. SCI officials have denied wrongdoing.

The changes being considered by the Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers would require funeral service providers to refrigerate unembalmed bodies stored for more than 48 hours.

Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com