Bill Text: MI HB6275 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Health; medical examiners; conditions for use of virtual autopsy by medical examiner; allow under certain circumstances. Amends secs. 2 & 5 of 1953 PA 181 (MCL 52.202 & 52.205) & adds sec. 5b.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-08-15 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 06/12/2018 [HB6275 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2017-HB6275-Introduced.html

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HOUSE BILL No. 6275

 

 

June 12, 2018, Introduced by Reps. Hammoud, Wittenberg, Elder, Gay-Dagnogo and Pagan and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.

 

     A bill to amend 1953 PA 181, entitled

 

"An act relative to investigations in certain instances of the

causes of death within this state due to violence, negligence or

other act or omission of a criminal nature or to protect public

health; to provide for the taking of statements from injured

persons under certain circumstances; to abolish the office of

coroner and to create the office of county medical examiner in

certain counties; to prescribe the powers and duties of county

medical examiners; to prescribe penalties for violations of the

provisions of this act; and to prescribe a referendum thereon,"

 

by amending sections 2 and 5 (MCL 52.202 and 52.205), section 2 as

 

amended by 2012 PA 171 and section 5 as amended by 2010 PA 108, and

 

by adding section 5b.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 2. (1) A Subject to section 5b, a county medical examiner

 

or deputy county medical examiner shall investigate the cause and

 

manner of death of an individual under each of the following

 

circumstances:

 

     (a) The individual dies by violence.

 

     (b) The individual's death is unexpected.

 

     (c) The individual dies without medical attendance by a

 

physician, or the individual dies while under home hospice care

 

without medical attendance by a physician or a registered nurse,

 

during the 48 hours immediately preceding the time of death, unless

 

the attending physician, if any, is able to determine accurately

 

the cause of death.

 

     (d) The individual dies as the result of an abortion, whether

 

self-induced or otherwise.

 

     (2) If Subject to section 5b, if a prisoner in a county or

 

city jail dies while imprisoned, the county medical examiner or

 

deputy county medical examiner, upon being notified of the death of

 

the prisoner, shall examine the body of the deceased prisoner.

 

     (3) In conducting an investigation under subsection (1) or

 

(2), a county medical examiner or deputy county medical examiner

 

may request the circuit court to issue a subpoena to produce

 

medical records, books, papers, documents, or other items related

 

to the death being investigated. The circuit court may punish

 

failure to obey a subpoena issued under this section as contempt of

 

court.

 

     (4) Medical records, books, papers, documents, or other items

 

that a county medical examiner or deputy county medical examiner

 

obtains in conducting an investigation under this act, whether in

 

response to a subpoena or otherwise, are exempt from disclosure

 

under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to

 

15.246.

     (5) As used in this act:

 

     (a) "Home hospice care" means a program of planned and

 

continuous hospice care provided by a hospice or a hospice

 

residence that consists of a coordinated set of services rendered

 

to an individual at his or her home on a continuous basis for a

 

disease or condition with a terminal prognosis.

 

     (b) "Physician" means an individual who is licensed as a

 

physician under part 170 or part 175 of the public health code,

 

1978 PA 368, MCL 333.17001 to 333.17084 and 333.17501 to 333.17556.

 

     (c) "Registered nurse" means an individual licensed as a

 

registered professional nurse under part 172 of the public health

 

code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.17201 to 333.17242.

 

     Sec. 5. (1) If a county medical examiner has notice that the

 

body of an individual who may have died in a manner described in

 

section 3 has been found within the county medical examiner's

 

county, the county medical examiner shall take charge of the body.

 

If after examining the body and investigating the cause and manner

 

of the death the county medical examiner considers a further

 

examination necessary, he or she may cause the body to be removed

 

to the public morgue. If the investigation is solely for the reason

 

that the decedent had no medical attendance during the 48 hours

 

immediately preceding the hour of death, and if the decedent had

 

chosen not to have medical attendance because of his or her bona

 

fide held religious convictions, removal is not required unless

 

there is evidence of other conditions described in section 3. If

 

there is no public morgue, the body may be removed to a private

 

morgue designated by the county medical examiner.

     (2) The county medical examiner may designate a medical

 

examiner investigator appointed under section 1a(2) to take charge

 

of the body, make pertinent inquiry, note the circumstances

 

surrounding the death, and, if considered necessary, cause the body

 

to be transported to the morgue for examination by the county

 

medical examiner. The county medical examiner shall maintain a list

 

of medical examiner investigators appointed under section 1a(2) and

 

their qualifications and shall file the list with the local law

 

enforcement agencies. A medical examiner investigator appointed

 

under section 1a(2) shall not be an agent or employee of a person

 

or funeral establishment licensed under article 18 of the

 

occupational code, 1980 PA 299, MCL 339.1801 to 339.1812, receive,

 

directly or indirectly, remuneration in connection with the

 

disposition of the body, or make funeral or burial arrangements

 

without approval of the next of kin, if known, or the individual

 

responsible for the funeral expenses.

 

     (3) The Subject to section 5b, the county medical examiner may

 

perform or direct to be performed an autopsy and shall carefully

 

reduce or cause to be reduced to writing each fact and circumstance

 

tending to show the condition of the body and the cause and manner

 

of death, and shall include in that writing the name and address of

 

each individual present at the autopsy. The individual performing

 

the autopsy shall subscribe the writing described in this

 

subsection.

 

     (4) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the

 

county medical examiner shall ascertain the identity of the

 

decedent and immediately and as compassionately as possible notify

the next of kin of the decedent's death and the location of the

 

body. The notification described in this subsection is not required

 

if a person an individual from the state police, a county sheriff

 

department, a township police department, or a municipal police

 

department states to the county medical examiner that the

 

notification has already occurred.

 

     (5) If visual identification of a decedent is impossible as a

 

result of burns, decomposition, or other disfiguring injuries or if

 

the county medical examiner is aware that the death is the result

 

of an accident that involved 2 or more individuals who were

 

approximately the same age, sex, height, weight, hair color, eye

 

color, and race, then the county medical examiner shall verify the

 

identity of the decedent through fingerprints, dental records, DNA,

 

or other definitive identification procedures and, if the accident

 

resulted in the survival of any individuals with the same

 

attributes, shall notify the respective hospital or institution of

 

his or her findings. The county medical examiner may conduct an

 

autopsy under subsection (3) if he or she determines that an

 

autopsy reasonably appears to be required pursuant to law. After

 

the county medical examiner, a deputy, a person an individual from

 

the state police, a county sheriff department, a township police

 

department, or a municipal police department has made diligent

 

effort to locate and notify the next of kin, the county medical

 

examiner may order and conduct the autopsy with or without the

 

consent of the next of kin of the decedent. The county medical

 

examiner or a deputy shall keep a written record of the efforts to

 

locate and notify the next of kin for a period of 1 year from the

date of the autopsy.

 

     (6) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the

 

county medical examiner shall promptly deliver or return the body

 

or any portion of the body to relatives or representatives of the

 

decedent after an examination or autopsy is performed under this

 

section. If there are no relatives or representatives of the

 

decedent known to the county medical examiner, he or she may cause

 

the body to be buried pursuant to law. A county medical examiner

 

may retain any portion of the body that he or she considers

 

necessary to establish the cause of death, the conditions

 

contributing to death, or the manner of death, or as evidence of

 

any crime. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, if a

 

portion of the body retained is an entire organ or limb of the

 

decedent, the county medical examiner shall attempt to verbally or

 

in writing notify the relatives or representatives of the decedent

 

of that retention and offer an opportunity for the relative or

 

representative to request the return of that organ or limb. If

 

notification is verbally made under this subsection, the county

 

medical examiner shall follow up with written notification. The

 

county medical examiner or a deputy shall keep a written record of

 

the efforts to notify the relatives or representatives of the

 

decedent under this subsection for a period of 1 year from the date

 

of the notification or attempt to notify. This subsection does not

 

apply to anatomical gifts made under part 101 of the public health

 

code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.10101 to 333.10123. Upon determination

 

that retention of the portions of the body is no longer necessary

 

under this subsection, the county medical examiner shall do all of

the following, as applicable:

 

     (a) If requested in writing under this subsection, promptly

 

deliver or return the retained organ or limb to the relatives or

 

representatives of the decedent.

 

     (b) Dispose of any remaining retained body portions in the

 

manner prescribed for medical waste under part 138 of the public

 

health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.13801 to 333.13831.333.13832.

 

     (7) A county medical examiner or any person individual who is

 

acting under the authority of the county medical examiner who

 

performs the medical examiner duties for the retention of body

 

parts, as added by the amendatory act that added this subsection,

 

shall not be liable in a civil action as a result of an act or

 

omission by the person arising him or her that arises out of and in

 

the course of the person's his or her good faith performance of

 

those medical examiner duties unless that person's his or her act

 

or omission was the result of that person's his or her negligence.

 

     Sec. 5b. (1) Subject to subsection (2), if a next of kin of

 

the deceased person informs the county medical examiner or deputy

 

county medical examiner that an autopsy would be contrary to a

 

deceased person's religious beliefs, a county medical examiner or

 

deputy county medical examiner shall only perform an autopsy on the

 

body of a deceased person that meets the requirements of this

 

section.

 

     (2) Subject to subsection (3), a county medical examiner or

 

deputy county medical examiner may perform an autopsy under the

 

circumstances described in subsection (1) if the county medical

 

examiner or deputy county medical examiner meets all of the

following:

 

     (a) The medical examiner determines that there is a compelling

 

public necessity for the autopsy. A compelling public necessity

 

exists for the purposes of this subsection if either of the

 

following circumstances exists:

 

     (i) An autopsy is necessary for the conduct of a criminal

 

investigation by a law enforcement agency.

 

     (ii) An autopsy is necessary to determine the cause of the

 

deceased person's death in order to protect against an immediate

 

and substantial threat to the public health.

 

     (b) If the medical examiner determines that there is a

 

compelling public necessity for the autopsy under subdivision (a),

 

the medical examiner within 12 hours of making the determination

 

petitions a court of competent jurisdiction to authorize the

 

autopsy. The medical examiner shall inform the next of kin in

 

writing of the petition. The court in which the petition is filed

 

shall conduct a hearing on the matter within 24 hours of the filing

 

of the petition. If the court finds that there is a compelling

 

public necessity, the court shall authorize the county medical

 

examiner or deputy county medical examiner to perform the autopsy

 

under subsection (3).

 

     (3) A county medical examiner or deputy county

 

medical examiner that is authorized to perform an autopsy under

 

subsection (2) must perform a virtual autopsy. All of the following

 

apply for purposes of this subsection:

 

     (a) The medical examiner must perform the virtual autopsy

 

before performing any other procedure, including an internal

examination of the body.

 

     (b) If the medical examiner does not have the equipment

 

necessary to perform the virtual autopsy, the medical examiner

 

shall make arrangements to transfer the body for a virtual autopsy

 

under this subsection to a county that has the capabilities to

 

perform the virtual autopsy.

 

     (c) If the medical examiner determines that the results of the

 

virtual autopsy indicate that an internal examination of the body

 

is necessary, the medical examiner shall perform the examination in

 

the least intrusive manner as possible.

 

     (d) If a body is transferred to another county for a virtual

 

autopsy under subdivision (b), the county transferring the body

 

shall reimburse the county performing the virtual autopsy for all

 

costs incurred in the performance of the autopsy, except for the

 

following:

 

     (i) The deceased's next of kin are responsible for the cost of

 

transporting the body to the county performing the virtual autopsy.

 

     (ii) The county transferring the body may charge the

 

deceased's next of kin for all costs incurred in the performance of

 

the virtual autopsy.

 

     (4) As used in this section, "virtual autopsy" means the use

 

of computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, X-rays, 3-

 

dimensional surface scanning technology, or similar modalities in

 

the examination of a body during an autopsy.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.