Minister of Health Dr. Hubert Minnis made a very valid statement in connection with the release of information on the death certificate of John Travolta's 16-year-old son Jett, who died in Grand Bahama over the weekend.

In an interview with Matt Lauer on The Today Show on Tuesday, Dr. Minnis said he was "amazed and appalled" that someone had released the results of the autopsy report, noting that it was a coroner's case and "only the coroner and the family should be in the position to release the report."

Dr. Minnis was referring, of course, to information given to members of the international media by an employee of the funeral home that Jett Travolta's death certificate said that he died as a result of a "seizure" and that his body was in "good condition" and showed no sign of head trauma. That revelation sparked a debate as to whether or not this conflicted with a police report over the weekend that Jett may have fallen and hit his head on the bathtub.

Obviously, what Dr. Minnis did not factor into his assessment of what should have been the proper conduct of those who were privy to the results of the autopsy was how persistent journalists can be in seeking information on what they consider to be a "hot story."

What's more, not since the Anna Nicole Smith scandal in late 2006 that threatened to derail the political career of then Labour and Immigration Minister Shane Gibson has the international media descended on The Bahamas in such huge numbers hungry for any morsel of information surrounding the death of Jett Travolta.

The Anna Nicole Smith scandal involved a smorgasbord of titillating information, including the fact that Gibson fast-tracked the permanent residency application of the former Playboy magazine Playmate of the Year, and it is therefore understandable why it gained such worldwide attention and attracted hordes of international media personalities, some of whom were considered to be celebrities in their own right.

But it is difficult to understand how the tragic death of a young man on a visit with his parents to their vacation home in West End, Grand Bahama, became such an important media event. The fact that his father is an internationally known movie star and his mother is an actress of lesser renown surely does not provide a legitimate explanation for young Jett's death being the focus of the extensive coverage that it received on the major television networks in the United States over the weekend and the first part of this week.

It nonetheless was considered to be "big news" and on assignments of that nature, journalists of the calibre of those who came to Grand Bahama to cover the story will stop at nothing to get the information that they need.

Another factor that must be taken into consideration is that the possibility of being quoted in a major newspaper in the United States or being on American television is a powerful inducement for "ordinary folks" to reveal what they consider to be important information.

So it is hardly surprising that the funeral home employee decided to divulge the information that he saw on the death certificate. What would have been surprising is that if in the face of such relentless prodding from the international media, he had not taken advantage of the opportunity to possibly achieve his one minute of fame.

After all, during the Anna Nicole Smith scandal, even magistrates involved in the court cases related to the scandal succumbed to the lure to be featured on American TV.