Unclaimed Bodies Pile up as Opioid Overdose Death Rates Soar and Burial Costs Overwhelm the Government

Unclaimed bodies continue to pile up in morgues as local and state governments struggle to pay funeral homes that require thousands of dollars per burial. A 2004 report estimated that around 40,000 bodies in US morgues have been left unclaimed. Experts say that this number has dramatically increased in recent years in response to the growing domestic opioid crisis. Per day, more than 115 people die from opioid overdose. Many of those affected come from lower socio-economic groups and rarely have enough assets in their estate to cover burial expenses. A funeral home in Worcester, Massachusetts currently holds hundreds of unclaimed remains with some dating back as far as the 1800s.

See Megan Sheets, Unclaimed Bodies Pile up as Opioid Overdose Death Rates Soar and Burial Costs Overwhelm the Government, DailyMail.com, February, 28, 2018.