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Graham Hetrick has worked as the Dauphin County Coroner since 1990 and starred in "The Coroner: I Speak For The Dead" for three seasons.
Recently he has been speaking for the living, denouncing both medical masks and coronavirus vaccines to the media and a local school board.
While at a press conference on Aug. 10 for a gruesome triple homicide-suicide fire in Steelton, Hetrick briefly spoke about his beliefs, saying wearing a mask harms your immune system and causes gingivitis, which is only partially true.
If you wear a mask for extended periods of time without practicing good dental hygiene you could develop gingivitis, according to researchers with a company that makes toothpaste, Colgate.
The other statement has been fact-checked and proven false in numerous studies and reports.
Hetrick recently told the Central Dauphin County School Board he has conducted his own research and believes a mandate of masks is a public health risk.
He spoke for over five minutes, at one hour and 23 minutes into a nearly four hour long school board meeting on Monday night. You can view the meeting in its entirety here.
During his soliloquy, he stated a conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was created at a lab in North Carolina as if it were a fact-- this is a theory that has been debunked.
The next speaker was Dr. David Peisner who spoke about the importance of masks as a form of preventative medicine and cited medical studies including one from The Lancet, a peer reviewed medical journal.
What is Hetrick’s method to prevent coronavirus infection? He believes the virus can be prevented by a low-carb and low-sugar diet.
“The COVID-19 virus affects mostly the respiratory system. Viruses love sugar, so I recommend staying away from a high carbohydrate, high sugar diet. I would also supplement with vitamin D3 and high doses of vitamin C. I have also instituted a rigorous deep breathing session each morning before stepping out into the public. This conditions our lungs and makes the body less acidic (on the pH scale),” he states in a letter published on the Dauphin County Coroner webpage.
As for COVID-19 vaccines, not only does he think all the coronavirus vaccines are not safe, despite the recent FDA full approval of the Pfizer vaccine-- he says he’s already had COVID-19 so he thinks it could possibly harm him if he gets vaccinated.
This statement is a conspiracy theory Dr. John Goldman, an infectious disease specialist with UPMC told abc27.
Having coronavirus does not prevent someone from getting it again, “Although these antibodies probably provide some immunity to the COVID-19 virus, there's currently not enough evidence to know how long the antibodies last or to what extent past infection with the virus helps protect you from getting another infection,” the Mayo Clinic said in a statement on May 6.
Dr. Goldman spoke out against Hetrick’s statements and urged the public to wear masks and get vaccinated.
Hetrick is not a medical doctor. He has Bachelor of Arts Degree from York College of Pennsylvania, a Mortuary Science Degree from Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science and a Master of Science Degree in research psychology from Capella University.
As he said to KDKA, “Maybe I’m just a crazy guy.”If not crazy, he is at least a conspiracy theorist who pedals $25 a pop, boobleheads of himself, albeit to raise funds for "an organization that is on the frontline of the battle against opioid addiction, which is a personal mission of mine," according to his website.
He is listed as a corporate faculty member in the forensics major at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology on it's website.
Hetrick was also president of the Hetrick Funeral Home from 1975-2003, the company website lists him as a current funeral director at the time of this publication.
Prior to his work with the dead, he served in the United States Army Service from 1965-1968, was a Chairman of the Dauphin County Hospital Authority and a former Susquehanna Township Commissioner, a background he often mentions in his media appearances.
Hetrick is a registered Republican and is an elected public official.
He was last elected in 2017, a coroner's term in office is four years.
Editor's Note: This article was originally was published stating that Graham Hetrick was a "Professor of Medical/Legal Investigation Central Pennsylvania College" the University has since contacted Daily Voice stating, "Mr. Hetrick is not a professor at Central Penn College… nor has he ever been." Hetrick originally posted about the alleged professorship in his biography on multiple sites, it has since been removed from all platforms.
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