This week, the Maine Board of Funeral Services will consider a Consent Agreement that would indefinitely suspend the license of a Lewiston funeral home that's been determined to post a public health threat. A state investigator discovered a dozen bodies stored in unrefrigerated conditions at Affordable Cremation Solution in June.
The Board first received complaints about Affordable Cremation Solution in April, after some clients had trouble getting the remains of loved ones.
Those complaints prompted several visits to the funeral home by a state investigator. According to state documents, during one visit in early June, the investigator developed a headache within 30 minutes because of a strong odor of decomposition. Twelve bodies were at Affordable Cremation Solution at the time, none were refrigerated. And the investigator could only find three death certificates dating back to April, one of which was incomplete.
According to the Consent Agreement, the operator of the funeral home, Kenneth Kincer, had reportedly become incapacitated in April and left a part-time funeral attendant in charge, which violates Board rules. Kincer also allegedly sent the wrong body to another funeral establishment.
In mid-June, the Maine Board of Funeral Services issued an immediate 30-day license suspension for Kincer and Affordable Cremation Solution. The proposed Consent Agreement would suspend those licenses indefinitely until an adjudicatory hearing is held. Kincer has signed the agreement, which is neither an admission nor a denial of the allegations. Both the Board and the office of the state Attorney General will decide whether to sign the agreement during a public meeting Tuesday morning.
