Funeral Ruling in Fumes Case Sought
Riverside County will go to court to make sure the body of Gloria Ramirez, who died as hospital emergency room staff passed out around her, remains in a sealed container until burial.
Ramirez’s family wrote to the county challenging a public health officer’s order that it not have an open-casket funeral, county spokesman Tom DeSantis said.
DeSantis said Friday that the sealed container is necessary for safety reasons, and the county will go to court next week to try to get a ruling that “would reinforce the public health officer’s decision.”
Ramirez’s family has refused to accept the body under the terms of a conditional release signed by the county coroner’s office that would bar removal of the body from a sealed casket.
The family says Ramirez was not the source of the still-unidentified fumes that affected six people--nurses, doctors and technicians--Feb. 19. One doctor was hospitalized for three weeks with breathing trouble.
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