ME's Office Delay Could Cost Man Thousands

By Dave Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Delays over a woman's death certificate could cost her husband thousands of dollars.

It's a case backlog that's preventing Harley King from getting a conclusive death certificate. Without it, he could lose his wife's pension and might have to return the money he's already received.

"This is a pretty nice house, but you got pretty nice bills and by the time you pay all the bills and everything, you really need the money," King said.

He's been receiving a modest sum from his late wife's pension, but that might soon come to an end this month.

Back in February, his wife, Delores, passed away. The Medical Examiner's office issued a death certificate that said the cause of death is pending. Despite that, her pension fund went ahead and sent King her checks, which are about $680 a month. But this month, the fund sent King a letter demanding an updated death certificate by July 22. If not, those funds would be cut off and King might have to pay that money back. He said his family has called the ME's office for an updated certificate, but they have still not received one.

"The deal is supposed to be sitting on somebody's desk, but they might have a million on there," King said.

That backlog is one of the reasons the ME's office lost its accreditation this week.

"It's important for us to let families know that we hate this for them. We regret this situation that we have such a large backlog," said Cherokee Ballard, spokesperson for the State Medical Examiner's Office.

Ballard said there are at least 300 cases that still have to be reviewed. Delores King's case is one of them.

"We want to be able to help him if we can and we'll certainly try," Ballard said.

In the past, the ME's office has contacted the pension fund to explaine the delay. Ballard said that's what likely might happen in this case.

King said if he is forced to pay back that money, he'll borrow it from family members.