Oh For Goodness Sake!

So my father-by-marriage passed on July 16th at the age of 95-1/2 years. Pretty old, right? He was in good health, taking no medications and able to get around on his own until the last few days, so no real need to see a doctor. So far...so good, right? In early 2011 he needed a physical so that he could get cataract surgery so he went to a local clinic and saw a doctor, we'll call Dr W. He had never seen Dr W before and didn't see him again because there was no need. So...there's your background to this crazy tale.

Death Certificates can take up to 30 days to receive, but usually it's a lot faster than that. When my FBM died, the Coroner said no autopsy was necessary because he died at age 95-1/2. So...the Coroner decided no additional paperwork was needed and we should have gotten the death certs pretty quickly. But, as of yesterday we still had not received them. We have legal paperwork waiting for those before we can act on behalf of the estate. Everything is waiting for these death certificates.

My sister-in-law phoned the mortuary yesterday asking them what the hold up was. She was almost beside herself when she called DH late in the morning. Apparently there has been a delay. And it all relates back to Dr W - the doctor who saw my FBM once - ONLY ONCE - in early 2011. When my FBM died and my DH and sister-in-law were there while the police and the paramedics were removing the body. They were asked about whether there was a physician for my FBM. Someone mentioned that he had seen Dr W for a physical a few years before. That was written down on the record and off they went.

Paramedics in action. Gotta love those Legos...

They contacted Dr W. He now has refused to sign off on the death certificate until he has done bloodwork and toxicology testing on the remains. Hello!!!! The man was 95-1/2 years old! I think it's a fairly safe bet that he died from natural causes! In the meantime, we're running in place, waiting for this idiot physician who saw my FBM a single time to do his little lab work and sign the death certificate. I'm so upset I could just spit at the idiot. Why is he putting the family through added stress? Does he get paid for the additional little bits of work? Do they add to his bottom line? He's not going to get sued for malpractice this long after he saw him, but I am very tempted to leave him a very poor review on Angie's List for the pure stupidity of his actions.

I'm so tempted to make my displeasure have more ripples. But that's not really
a peaceful method of interacting with the world and would only lead to
more strife and stress. But it's so tempting!

ARGH!!!!!