Prosecutor granted bid to test to determine why doctor died
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 By RONALD LEIR JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office is collecting facts related to the death of a 45-year-old Jersey City doctor whose body was found on the kitchen floor of his Kennedy Boulevard apartment last Wednesday.
Assistant Prosecutor Michael D'Andrea said he has asked state Superior Court Judge Thomas Olivieri, sitting in Jersey City, for permission to extract blood samples from the body of Dr. Joseph A. Colao to help determine the physician's cause of death.
D'Andrea said that family members objected on religious grounds to the state's intervention. "They felt that any type of invasive procedure would defile the body," he said. "We felt that the taking of blood was the least invasive option available."
Olivieri granted the state's request. D'Andrea said it would take "weeks" to get the results.
"It's clear to everyone that the doctor was not a victim of violence, that there was no trauma to the body," Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. "Our concern was (getting) toxicology results, based on various medications that were found on the scene."
Colao's family could not be reached for comment.
The family has scheduled a private funeral Mass at St. Bernard Church in Bridgewater.
Colao previously served as medical director of therapy services at the former Bayonne Hospital and as co-director of the rehabilitation department at Meadowlands Hospital and Medical Center in Secaucus.
He maintained a private practice in pain management and physical rehabilitation in Jersey City.