I didn't know that Otto Warmbier's parents "declined" an autopsy be performed. Well, that's baffling. You'd think it would be something that they'd absolutely insist upon given the situation. I thought if someone dies under mysterious/suspicious circumstances that the family is not always allowed to decline (?). State to state thing, I guess, but I admit my ignorance on it. That super smart pathology guy, Dr. Werner Spitz, said that if the injury was so far removed, checking out Warmbier's brain more than likely would not have yielded direct cause, just show extensive brain damage and that's it. It could've conversely ruled things out, though, which is still a hell of a lot more than an answer than his family has. I think his family made a mistake, but no judgment. Fact remains, he shouldn't be dead.
Religious reasons, probably. I will also note that there have been numerous autopsies performed where they still could not determine the cause of death. They have certain obvious things they check for but sometimes they just don't know.
^Nah, I doubt it. I was going to mention religious reasons as well, seeing as he was Jewish, but even Orthodox Jews are pretty loose on it sometimes. His parents probably just wanted him to be left alone, which I get. I respect their decision, but I think they did him a disservice.
Honestly, what disservice is it? What will it change to find out he was murdered by the North Korean government? He's already dead. There's no one to bring to justice for this. It would accomplish nothing.
A)I'm not convinced they would've been able to pinpoint anything for sure even with an autopsy. B)I really don't see how it matters. He died as a result of mistreatment by the North Korean government. Putting a scientific name on it wouldn't really change anything.
But you can't prove B) without examining A). We don't know if his coma was due to getting hit in the head with a sledgehammer or self-administered drugs, or a thousand other things.
That's great for you but I'm not sure of anything that happened there. There is a chance an autopsy may have answered some questions.
