Current Article

ARTICLE #20080131

MAD COWS, FORMALDEHYDE APOLOGY, EMBALMING AND
ALL THAT JAZZ. A CJD UPDATE FOR EMBALMERS.

by: James H. Bedino, Chemist, Dir. Research, The Champion Company

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In our current article, we investigate the misunderstood, convoluted, confused and, in some cases, flat out wrong morass of advice and recommendations regarding the embalming of CJD cases. Most of this information being passed around is by so-called “experts” in embalming or whatever, with the result being unresearched, unfounded, incorrect and out-of-context absurdist conclusions regarding precautions to take when embalming these types of cases and high risk embalming situations, in general. So just what recommendations are there that are based on brutal scientific facts and related medical research? What should an embalmer do in these situations? These questions and more will be investigated and answered in this article. As always, a warning — brutal honesty, the facts and my personal opinions follow. You will not find me standing waistdeep in the formaldehyde apology swamp pretending everything is “just alright” in the funeral industry. With that said, I invite you to read on.