May 6, 2009, Introduced by Reps. Valentine, Liss, Leland and Gregory 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 section 5 (MCL 52.205), as amended by 2006 PA 569.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
5. (1) When If a county medical examiner has notice that
there
has been found within his or her county or district the body
of
a person an individual who is supposed to have come to his or
her
death may have died in a manner as indicated described in
section 3 has been found within the county medical examiner's
county, the county medical examiner shall take charge of the body.
,
and if, on view of If after
examining the body and personal
inquiry
into investigating the cause and manner of the death , the
county medical examiner considers a further examination necessary,
the
county medical examiner or a deputy he or she may cause the
dead
body to be removed to the public
morgue. If the investigation
is
solely for the reason only that the dead person decedent had
no
medical
attendance during the 48 hours before immediately preceding
the
hour of death, and if the dead person decedent had chosen not
to have medical attendance because of his or her bona fide held
religious
convictions, removal shall is
not be required unless
there
is evidence of other conditions stipulated described in
section
3. If there is no public morgue, then the body may be
removed
to a private morgue as designated
by the county medical
examiner. has
designated.
(2)
The county medical examiner may designate a person medical
examiner
investigator appointed pursuant to 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 persons medical
examiner investigators appointed
pursuant
to under section 1a(2) and their qualifications which and
shall
be filed file the list with the local law enforcement
agencies.
The person A medical
examiner investigator appointed
pursuant
to under section 1a(2) shall not be an agent or employee
of
any 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, any remuneration in connection
with
the disposition of the body, or make any funeral or burial
arrangements
without approval of the next of kin, if they are found
known, or the person individual responsible for the funeral
expenses.
(3) The county medical examiner may perform or direct to be
performed an autopsy and shall carefully reduce or cause to be
reduced
to writing every each fact and circumstance tending to show
the condition of the body and the cause and manner of death,
together
with and shall include in
that writing the names name and
addresses
address of any persons each individual present at
the
autopsy. ,
which record he or she shall subscribe. The individual
performing the autopsy shall subscribe the writing described in
this subsection.
(4)
The Except as otherwise
provided in this subsection, the
county medical examiner shall ascertain the identity of the
deceased
decedent and notify immediately and as
compassionately as
possible notify the next of kin of the decedent's death and the
location
of the body. except that such The notification
described
in this subsection is not required if a person 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 an
individual 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 deceased 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 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, he or she the county
medical examiner may order and conduct
the autopsy with or without the consent of the next of kin of the
deceased
decedent. (5) 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)
The Except as otherwise provided in this
subsection, the
county
medical examiner shall , after any required examination or
autopsy,
promptly deliver or return the body
or any portion of the
body
to relatives or representatives of the deceased
or, if
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 decently buried
, except that the medical examiner
pursuant
to law. However, a county medical examiner may retain , as
long
as may be necessary, any portion of
the body believed by the
medical
examiner to be that he or she
considers necessary for the
detection
to establish the cause of
death, the conditions
contributing to death, or the manner of death, or as evidence of
any crime. Upon determination that retention of the portions of the
body is no longer necessary under this subsection, the county
medical examiner may dispose of the 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.
(7) A county medical examiner or any person acting under the
authority of the county medical examiner in the performance of
medical examiner duties under this act, including, but not limited
to, autopsy dissection, diagnoses, opinions, or certification of
death, shall not be liable in a civil action for damages as a
result of an act or omission by the person arising out of and in
the course of the person's good faith performance of medical
examiner duties unless the person's act or omission was the result
of that person's gross negligence or willful misconduct.