Human autopsy?

Question

When does a human autopsy law apply to a person?
Does you county have to ask for permission from the deceased’s family to have an autopsy to be performed? I ask because I read from a newspaper of a woman who died from a fatal car accident and you would figure the cause of her death would be from the accident but the county cut her open for no reason.

Answer 1

If a death is under suspicious circumstances, then the medical examiner's office has the right to determine the cause by autopsy, and no familial consent is required.

Answer 2

Autopsy laws do vary state by state but some of the general guidelines are:

- death within 24 hours of hospitalization
- death occurring outside of the hospital for persons not under the care of physician for a life threatening/ terminal illness.
- any traumatic death (it's not for "no" reason - there are times when a person is involved in a traumatic accident may have died of causes not related to the accident and death may even have caused the accident)
- any time a family requests that an autopsy be done.
- death that cannot be explained in any setting regardless of time frame.

Many times the decision to performa an autopsy is left up to the discretion of the coroner, except those mandated by law. In my state a traumatic death will always warrant and autopsy, but not all less than 24 hour hospital admissions will.

Again - you would need to examine the laws and guidelines in your own state.

Answer 3

Here, whether an autopsy is performed is the sole discretion of the Medical Examiner's Office. Permission from the family is not required, though if the ME opts NOT to do one, they can pay a private Pathologist to perform one.

Answer 4

.No reason? In an accidental death situation, there's probably going to be a lawsuit.
The question is, did this person die of injuries, or, did they die of something else. For example, were the injuries survivable but she died because of an underlying heart condition?
This could mean many dollars in an insurance settlement.
Was this person driving? If so,was she under the influence of alcohol , a drug, etc.
You don't just "assume" or "figure "and let it go at that.

Answer 5

Family can protest.