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Lawmakers consider bill to raise training standards for Missouri coroners
A case in Cape Girardeau County, where the coroner is charged with stealing from the dead and lying on death certificates, is spurring action to strengthen qualifications for public officials who handle deaths.
Two years after admitting he ‘doesn’t do COVID deaths,’ Missouri coroner charged with lying on death certificates
Republican Wavis Jordan, the coroner of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, admitted in 2021 to not investigating deaths himself and requiring families to provide proof of a positive COVID-19 test before including it on a death certificate.
Uncounted: The hidden death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic
In some places, just half of the spike in deaths during the pandemic is blamed on COVID-19. Researchers say that points to a massive undercount.
Science backs mask mandates. But in Missouri and elsewhere, they’re politically toxic
Studies have repeatedly found mandates encourage mask use and slow COVID spread. But politics and lawsuits make them unattractive to policymakers.
Missouri health department found mask mandates work, but didn’t make findings public
Mask mandates saved lives and prevented COVID-19 infections in Missouri’s biggest cities during the worst part of the delta variant wave, an analysis by the state Department of Health and Senior Services shows. But the analysis, conducted at the request of Gov. Mike Parson’s office in early November, was never made public — until a public records requests pried it free.