funeral home

(Newser) - The cremation industry is booming, a reflection of tighter economic times and a push from consumers for more creative funeral options, reports the Washington Post. Cremations, cheaper than traditional burial, rose 7% nationwide in the past 5 years and made up 35% of the funeral market last year. Funeral homes...

(Newser) - Two brothers who ran a Philadelphia funeral home pleaded guilty today to selling corpses, including that of Masterpiece Theatre host Alistair Cooke, to a company that trafficked in stolen body parts, the AP reports. They may get life sentences for allowing the remains of 244 clients to be dismembered for...

(Newser) - The funeral industry preys on bereft customers, artificially raising prices and taking custody of bodies it has no right to handle, argues a watchdog group. The Funeral Consumers Alliance aims to push fair and environmentally friendly death-care practices, Newsweek reports. “Funeral corporations use predatory sales tactics and aggressive marketing...

(Newser) - A New Jersey dentist who ran a business plundering body parts from corpses in funeral homes pleaded guilty in Brooklyn today, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. Michael Mastromarino, 44, admitted to removing bones and tissue from two dozen corpses, which were sold to tissue processors for use in transplants and other...