S06.E12: Autopsies, Coroners, and Medical examiners

[Athena]

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Other segments: Eurovision Song Contest 2019, Hatari, United States tariffs on Chinese products
Guests: Glenn Close, Tracy Morgan

 

[Annber03]

...okay, so I clearly picked a bad time to have just finished eating, with all this spleen and playing with brains talk :/. Also, if that Shawn guy (or, excuse me, Lynn (seriously, WTF?)) doesn't have proper freezers and whatnot for his bodies, I don't even want to imagine how bad that room is going to smell after a while. Holy shit. 

And once again I ask, when in the hell did we decide that experience wasn't necessary for such important jobs? Why is this a thing? 

Fascinating, disturbing topic. I'm going to be thinking about this a lot whenever I watch any true crime stories. 

As for the trade war stuff, yeah, I feel really bad for the farmers out in my part of the country right now. Between this dumbass trade war and all the constant flooding of late, they're having one hell of a rough time right now. My mom's not a farmer, but the business she works for does work with farmers and other companies who are being affected by these tariffs, and that's having a negative impact on the business itself as well. But please, Trump supporters, do try and tell me again about how he supposedly cares so much about us working-class, rural folks. 

Oliver's point about how he's never going to learn anything at this stage in his life is important, too. One reason of many why Congress really needs to step in and kick him out of here. We cannot afford to let his stupidity continue to hurt us like this. 

Hatari were...interesting...:p. 

Edited May 20, 2019 by Annber03

[scarynikki12]

51 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

And once again I ask, when in the hell did we decide that experience wasn't necessary for such important jobs? Why is this a thing?

Money money money. It’s cheaper to put in people with zero qualifications especially since they keep it quiet. If not for Ollie I’d still be assuming that they were qualified. It’s horrible. 

[ahisma]

The show must have been filmed before Hatari pulled their biggest stunt—they pulled out Palestinian flags in the middle of their act. Apparently the audience booed but when I heard about it I cackled. (Still, Palestinians actually asked bands to just boycott coming to Israel for the contest.) 

Great story on coroners versus MEs. I've just had to go through both my parents' deaths, and you really can't do anything until you have a death certificate. Funding the officials to do it properly is a must. 

[biakbiak]

John don’t mock Forever!!!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

4 hours ago, biakbiak said:

John don’t mock Forever!!!

Hahaha, I thought the same thing! Leave Henry Morgan alone! The show was canceled years ago and that joke still hurt.

Who knew you could just start calling yourself professor? I mean, who knew that besides Professor Lynn? Gawd, what a scumbag.

[Sharpie66]

In other threads on this site, I have talked about my favorite nonfiction book, The Poisoner’s Handbook, which tells the beginnings of the American forensic death investigator’s office in 1920s NYC. Amidst the tales of various poisoning cases, there is the ongoing issues of corruption in the coroner’s office that existed before the trained ME took over (NY had mayor-appointed coroners, who were cronies and political hacks who were more interested in the bribes available for favorable investigation results or kickbacks from funeral homes), and minimal funding (the ME was independently wealthy and funded much of the office’s expenses out of his own pocket). 

[Robert Lynch]

Hatari looked like a total ripoff of an 80s band called Soft Cell, judging from the S&M wardrobe. I wonder if that's the theme they are going for. What I found hysterical is a politician's son is in that band and how funny is that Mortal Kombat mask getup? He should have came out as a coplay Scorpion next time.

[Thomas Crown]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Hahaha, I thought the same thing! Leave Henry Morgan alone! The show was canceled years ago and that joke still hurt.

Same here! Loved that show.  

[khyber]

1 hour ago, Robert Lynch said:

What I found hysterical is a politician's son is in that band and how funny is that Mortal Kombat mask getup? He should have came out as a coplay Scorpion next time.

Instead of the uncomfortable mask, why doesn't he just where a shirt that says "Please look at me, I'm desperate to be thought of as different" ?

[peeayebee]

11 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Also, if that Shawn guy (or, excuse me, Lynn (seriously, WTF?)) doesn't have proper freezers and whatnot for his bodies, I don't even want to imagine how bad that room is going to smell after a while. Holy shit. 

Well, he did have a Glade plug-in.

2 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

In other threads on this site, I have talked about my favorite nonfiction book, The Poisoner’s Handbook, which tells the beginnings of the American forensic death investigator’s office in 1920s NYC.

I thought that was a fiction book. Sounds interesting.

This was a very informative show. I had always wondered what the difference was betw an ME and a coroner.

It's absolutely disgusting that some MEs and coroners think it's ok to treat organs and body parts as a joke or toy. I realize that in that field of work you might develop a dark sense of humor or just forget about the importance of treating bodies with dignity, but I wish they'd remember. 

As for Professor Lynn, I was astounded that he seemed to think everything he was saying and showing the reporter would be accepted as normal, acceptable, or good. 

And as for Trump not understanding how tariffs work, that's just par for the course, so to speak. He has no interest in learning. He goes by his gut, what feels right to him, not what facts are. Like when he was disagreeing with his trade guy about the term Memorandum of Understanding. [googling...]

Trump: I don’t like MOUs because they don’t mean anything. To me they don’t mean anything. I think you’re better off just going into a document.
Lighthizer: An MOU is a contract, it’s the way trade agreements are generally used. People refer to it like it’s a term sheet. It’s not a term sheet it’s an actual contract between the two parties.
Trump: By the way, I disagree. I think that memorandum of understanding is not a contract to the extent we want. We’re gonna have – we’re doing a memorandum of understanding that will be put into a final contract, I assume, but to me the final contract is really the thing … that means something.

"But to me." [gigantic eyeroll]

[Annber03]

8 hours ago, biakbiak said:

John don’t mock Forever!!!

Ha, yeah, I was wondering how many people would respond to that one. 

3 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

In other threads on this site, I have talked about my favorite nonfiction book, The Poisoner’s Handbook, which tells the beginnings of the American forensic death investigator’s office in 1920s NYC. Amidst the tales of various poisoning cases, there is the ongoing issues of corruption in the coroner’s office that existed before the trained ME took over (NY had mayor-appointed coroners, who were cronies and political hacks who were more interested in the bribes available for favorable investigation results or kickbacks from funeral homes), and minimal funding (the ME was independently wealthy and funded much of the office’s expenses out of his own pocket). 

That sounds like a really good read. I'll have to look around for that book. 

36 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

It's absolutely disgusting that some MEs and coroners think it's ok to treat organs and body parts as a joke or toy. I realize that in that field of work you might develop a dark sense of humor or just forget about the importance of treating bodies with dignity, but I wish they'd remember. 

Seriously, if I found out somebody had done that with the body of my loved one, I'd want to go down there and punch their lights out. And yes, WHY THE PICTURES?! That is just...beyond creepy. I can easily see where this kind of work can attract some of the more disturbed individuals out there, though, unfortunately. 

(That, and Oliver's thing about being in a room alone with a corpse, with the lone light...yeah, that's exactly what I'd be afraid of, too :p. The mere idea of being in a morgue creeps me out, so I've no doubt that might be another reason they have a hard time finding people for this job.) 

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He goes by his gut, what feels right to him, not what facts are. Like when he was disagreeing with his trade guy about the term Memorandum of Understanding. [googling...]

Trump: I don’t like MOUs because they don’t mean anything. To me they don’t mean anything. I think you’re better off just going into a document.
Lighthizer: An MOU is a contract, it’s the way trade agreements are generally used. People refer to it like it’s a term sheet. It’s not a term sheet it’s an actual contract between the two parties.
Trump: By the way, I disagree. I think that memorandum of understanding is not a contract to the extent we want. We’re gonna have – we’re doing a memorandum of understanding that will be put into a final contract, I assume, but to me the final contract is really the thing … that means something.

"But to me." [gigantic eyeroll]

*Headdesk* God, what a dumbass. You just want to grab him and others who think like him by the shoulders and shake some sense into them.

[meowmommy]

I'm surprised there was no discussion of the potential impact of badly performed autopsies on the criminal justice system.  How many people are in prison at least partially based on "evidence" provided by inept coroners?

I didn't laugh once.  Maybe because of Grumpy Cat, I don't know.  I need to laugh.

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, meowmommy said:

I'm surprised there was no discussion of the potential impact of badly performed autopsies on the criminal justice system.  How many people are in prison at least partially based on "evidence" provided by inept coroners?

When he was talking about the sheriffs who are also coroners, I kept thinking about all the true crime shows I've seen where a sheriff was accused of killing their wife. None of those people worked as coroners, but that would be quite the convenient means for a cover up if they did. Even then, they still often tried to refuse any need for autopsies and things of that sort, and some of the coroners never bothered to contest that decision. 

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I didn't laugh once.  Maybe because of Grumpy Cat, I don't know.  I need to laugh.

I liked that they showed a picture of Grumpy Cat at the end of the opening credits.  

[attica]

He shouted out Forever, but he did not hat-tip my favorite of all the tv MEs, the venerable Elizabeth Rogers of the Law and Order franchises. Reprehensible oversight!

[iMonrey]

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Hahaha, I thought the same thing! Leave Henry Morgan alone! The show was canceled years ago and that joke still hurt.

Agreed. Forever was great.

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As for Professor Lynn, I was astounded that he seemed to think everything he was saying and showing the reporter would be accepted as normal, acceptable, or good. 

I'm from this guy's area so the local news has been covering his story pretty closely. Lynn isn't even his real name. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 minute ago, iMonrey said:

Agreed. Forever was great.

I'm from this guy's area so the local news has been covering his story pretty closely. Lynn isn't even his real name. 

But he said it’s his middle name! Doesn’t everyone go by [unearned title] + [middle name]?

I was having flashbacks to Who’s the Man: “Did you go to medical school? Did your mom name you Doctor?”

[walnutqueen]

On 5/20/2019 at 4:56 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

But he said it’s his middle name! Doesn’t everyone go by [unearned title] + [middle name]?

Not Hugh Grant.

Doctors who hate patients should just become forensic pathologists, and save us both some bother.

Is "save Glenn Close's spleen" a hashtag yet?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

7 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Not Hugh Grant.

That's Colonel Mungo!

[RedbirdNelly]

the funding issue with MEs/coroners just reminded me of another reason I've never understood the "let's reduce taxes so the government is so small it can be drowned in a bathtub" mentality. I understand not wanting waste and I don't love paying taxes, but there are certain services we need done competently and that takes money. You can't ask competent people to work for free and if you want evidence that stands up in court (not to mention allows police to figure out accurately who did it), that takes certain equipment, facilities etc. and that takes money.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 5/20/2019 at 12:37 AM, scarynikki12 said:

Money money money. It’s cheaper to put in people with zero qualifications especially since they keep it quiet. If not for Ollie I’d still be assuming that they were qualified. It’s horrible. 

Is it just money thing though? I mean if you assume that there are a limited number of MD's that specialize in pathology. So considering that, how do you convince one of those doctors to move their entire life to some backwater county in the middle of nowhere so that they can be the chief medical examiner. Next consider how many counties like that there probably are.