Asbestos HUB

Two Weeks After First Funeral, Harold St. John Gets Another One Posted: 20 Mar 2009 03:33 AM PDT Two weeks after Harold St. John’s family held his funeral, they finally will be allowed to bury him. Right before the funeral, attorneys for the defendants in St. John’s asbestos case insisted on taking the body back and conducting an autopsy to examine the asbestos fibers in his lungs, while his family vigorously objected. NJ.com reports that an appeals court panel has affirmed a decision by a judge in New Brunswick denying defendants the right to have an autopsy performed against the family’s wishes on the 67-year-old St. John, who died last month from an asbestos-related cancer of the lungs. In a four page decision released today, the appeals panel agreed with Superior Court Judge Philip Paley that “defendants did not present … a sufficient basis from which to conclude that retrieval of lung tissue samples would likely lead to evidence of such significance that a limited autopsy should be ordered over the objections of Mr. St. John’s family.” Geez, how about objecting just on the grounds that it was in poor taste to yank a body from a funeral? The family opposes autopsies on religious and moral grounds, according to their attorney, Moshe Maimon. An order was served on the funeral director moments before St. John was to be buried. Hours later, his family was told his body had been returned to the funeral home. The order was sought by Honeywell International and Chrysler Motor Corp., two of the many companies St. John and his family sued last year after he became ill with mesothelioma resulting from exposure to defendants’ products while working in a family-owned auto repair shop in the 1950s and 1960s. The St. John family said a private burial service will be held this week. St. John’s widow, Diana, and daughter, Debbie Eisenbrey, today released a statement saying the family is “relieved.” Ya no kidding. The St. John family attorney said: “Chrysler and Honeywell put the St. John family through the nightmare when, as the court found, an autopsy was unlikely to yield any significant evidence,” Maimon said. “We are relieved that Harry St. John can finally rest in peace.” Michael Palese, a spokesman for Chrysler, said “we are disappointed with the decision of the New Jersey (appeals court). We are considering our legal options.” However, they also said “Chrysler’s deepest sympathies are with the St. John family for their loss.” Oh please. Read the story history and developments on NJ.com.