Franklin cancer deaths increase

The number of cancer-related deaths in Franklin County has been steadily increasing the past couple of years, prompting Coroner Dan Blasdel to investigate if there's any pattern to the deaths that can be pinpointed.

Last year, the coroner's office handled 52 cancer deaths, a 24 percent increase over the 2008 total of 42, according to statistics Blasdel released Thursday.

Cancer deaths jumped 44 percent when compared with numbers from 2007, when the office handled 36 cancer cases.

"I'm going to look at that closer to see if there's a correlation to addresses," Blasdel said.

If a geographic pattern shows up, he would review the cases to determine if a specific type of cancer is prevalent.

The Franklin County Coroner's Office handled 200 of the 235 deaths in the county last year, Blasdel said. Not all deaths that are reported to the Health Department have to be reported to the coroner.

The death rate went up by about 9 percent compared with 2008, but the county's population is increasing so that's not unexpected, Blasdel said.

Of the 200 deaths investigated, 168 were found to be natural causes.

Blasdel said he was glad to see traffic deaths were down to five last year compared with 11 in 2008. There used to be a lot of fatalities in the fall around harvest time, but extra emphasis patrols and education by law enforcement have helped reduce that number, officials said.

Thirteen deaths in 2009 were ruled accidental, with three each attributed to drowning and drug overdose, two each to asphyxiation and carbon monoxide poisoning, and one each for trauma to the chest, a fall and respiratory arrest, Blasdel said.

Homicide was determined to be the cause of death in two shootings and one stabbing, while two deaths are still considered "undetermined."

The shooting deaths were Eutimio Vivero-Garcia, 38, who was killed by 17-year-old Christopher Ruesga in April, and Tiairra Jo Garcia, 19. Garcia was shot and killed in 2008 by her boyfriend, Marnicus Lockhard, but her remains weren't found until last year, Blasdel said.

The third death that was ruled a homicide was Christopher E. Craig, 26, of Seattle, who was stabbed in the chest during a New Year's Eve party in Pasco. Though the cause of death was classified as a homicide by the coroner's office, there's been no decision by prosecutors on whether criminal charges will be filed.

An overdose and a stab wound to the chest were the "undetermined" deaths.

There was just one more suicide last year than in 2008. Five deaths were by self-inflicted gunshot wounds and four were by hanging.

The main challenge ahead for the coroner's office in 2010 is the county's budget crunch, which has resulted in Blasdel's autopsy budget getting slashed from $25,000 to $1,700, he said.

Autopsies typically run anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000, so Blasdel said he'll be making quarterly reports to the commissioners.

"If we run out of money, they will have to put more in there," Blasdel said.

Last year, about $30,000 was spent on autopsies for about 10 percent of the caseload, he said. On average across the nation, autopsies are conducted in about 20 percent of deaths, Blasdel said.

-- Paula Horton: 582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com