Senate Bill No. 435

(By Senators Schoonover and Holliday)

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[Introduced February 21, 1994;

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section ten, article twelve, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to autopsies; clarifying when body tissue may be maintained; and requiring notification to next of kin and, in the case of a suspected crime, the prosecutor.

 Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article twelve, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12. POSTMORTEM EXAMINATIONS.

ยง61-12-10. When autopsies made and by whom performed; reports; records of deaths investigated; copies of records and information.

If in the opinion of the chief medical examiner, or of the medical examiner of the county in which the death in question occurred, it is advisable and in the public interest that anautopsy be made, or if an autopsy be requested by either the prosecuting attorney or the judge of the circuit court or other court of record having criminal jurisdiction in such county, such autopsy shall be made by the chief medical examiner, by a member of his staff or by such competent pathologist as the chief medical examiner shall designate and employ pursuant to the provisions of this article. The chief medical examiner may employ any medical examiner who is a qualified pathologist to make such autopsies, and the fees to be paid hereunder for autopsies hereunder shall be in addition to the fee provided for investigations and made pursuant to section eight of this article. A full record and report of the findings developed by the autopsy shall be filed with the office of medical examinations by such person making the autopsy.
Within the discretion of the chief medical examiner, or of the person making such autopsy, or if requested by the prosecuting attorney of such county, or of the county where any injury contributing to or causing the death was sustained, a copy of such report of the autopsy shall be furnished such prosecuting attorney.
The office of medical examinations shall keep full, complete, and properly indexed records of all deaths investigated, containing all relevant information concerning the death, and the autopsy report if such be made. Any prosecuting attorney or law-enforcement officer may secure copies of such records or information necessary to him for the performance ofhis official duties. Copies of such records or information shall be furnished, upon request, to any party to whom the cause of death is a material issue. Any person performing an autopsy pursuant to the authority of this section shall be empowered to keep and retain, for and on behalf of the chief medical examiner, any tissue from the body upon which the autopsy was performed which may be necessary for further medical study or consideration, identification of the decedent, or criminal prosecution, so long as notification of such retention is fully disclosed to the next of kin by itemizing such tissue on the death certificate. To the extent that such tissue is maintained for the purpose of criminal prosecution, the notification shall also be provided by forwarding a copy of said certificate to the prosecutor in each county where any crime is suspected to have occurred.
In cases of the death of any infant in the state of West Virginia where sudden infant death syndrome is the suspected cause of death and the chief medical examiner or the medical examiner of the county in which the death in question occurred considers it advisable to perform an autopsy, it is the duty of the chief medical examiner or the medical examiner of the county in which the death occurred to notify at least one parent or legal guardian in written form of the purpose for the autopsy examination and to provide to the parents or legal guardian(s) a report of the findings of the autopsy examination within thirty days of completion of such examination.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that notification is given to the next of kin by the office of medical examinations when any tissue from an autopsy is retained. The tissue shall be itemized on the death certificate and in cases involving criminal prosecution, the prosecution shall be provided a copy of such certificate.)