Denise said, “It’s ironic that somebody who quit so many years ago and was so anti-smoking but they’re contributing her death to smoking. I don’t think so.”
Denise said she contacted the office of the physician in Texas who signed the death certificate. “They told me they had found a medical record from 1976, over 34 years ago, where she had listed herself as a smoker. I was dumbfounded.”
The family has been searching Sue Korb’s personal effects for any indications she had a life insurance policy. Even if one is found, they wonder if the listing of tobacco as a contributing cause on the death will effect any benefits.
A call to the physician in Texas who signed the death certificate has not been returned.
Nebraska death certificates also include a box for whether tobacco contributed to a cause of death.
Mike Lefler with the Nebraska chapter of the American Cancer Society said, “The figures on death due to smoking come from the state registry.” We utilize those numbers when educating the public about the dangers of smoking and to show the direct correlation smoking has to one’s death.”
The Korb family will ask Texas officials to change the death certificate they claim is inaccurate.
