BMS BMS Bachelor of Mortuary Science Mortuary Law and Ethics Questions and Answers 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the FTC Funeral Rule, which of the following is a funeral home REQUIRED to provide to consumers over the telephone?
- Casket prices only
- A General Price List
- Price information for any item requested (Correct answer)
- Embalming costs exclusively
Correct answer: Price information for any item requested
The FTC Funeral Rule mandates that funeral providers must give price information over the phone for any goods or services they offer when asked.
Question 2: A funeral director discovers that a decedent's family has conflicting wishes regarding disposition, and no written directive exists. In most U.S. jurisdictions, who typically has the primary legal right to control disposition?
- The decedent's closest friend
- The surviving spouse (Correct answer)
- The eldest child
- The executor of the estate
Correct answer: The surviving spouse
In most states, the surviving spouse holds the primary legal right to control the disposition of remains when no pre-need directive exists.
Question 3: Which ethical principle is MOST directly violated when a funeral director steers a grieving family toward the most expensive casket without presenting all available options?
- Beneficence
- Autonomy (Correct answer)
- Nonmaleficence
- Distributive justice
Correct answer: Autonomy
Failing to present all options undermines the family's autonomy by restricting their ability to make a fully informed decision.
Question 4: What is the primary legal purpose of requiring funeral directors to obtain a burial-transit permit before transporting human remains across state lines?
- To ensure payment of transportation fees
- To track the chain of custody and verify cause of death documentation (Correct answer)
- To confirm the family has selected a casket
- To verify the funeral home's insurance coverage
Correct answer: To track the chain of custody and verify cause of death documentation
Burial-transit permits ensure proper chain of custody documentation and verify that the cause of death has been certified before remains are transported.
Question 5: A funeral home advertises 'complete funeral services starting at $1,995' but the actual minimum cost with required fees totals $3,200. This practice most likely violates which regulation?
- HIPAA Privacy Rule
- OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard
- FTC Act Section 5 prohibition on deceptive advertising (Correct answer)
- State sanitation codes
Correct answer: FTC Act Section 5 prohibition on deceptive advertising
Advertising a misleadingly low price that does not reflect mandatory charges constitutes deceptive advertising under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
Question 6: In the context of mortuary ethics, what does the concept of 'informed consent' require BEFORE embalming may be performed?
- A court order authorizing the procedure
- Written or verbal authorization from the legally authorized person (Correct answer)
- Approval from the attending physician
- Consent from at least two family members
Correct answer: Written or verbal authorization from the legally authorized person
Informed consent for embalming requires that the legally authorized person grants permission after being told that embalming is not required by law in most cases.
BMS BMS Bachelor of Mortuary Science Mortuary Law and Ethics Questions and Answers 2
Under the FTC Funeral Rule, which of the following is a funeral home REQUIRED to provide to consumers over the telephone?