No. SB 188
Filed under Public Health & Safety.
Medical Examiners’ Duties; Specifying autopsy requirements for certain cases involving sudden and unexpected deaths; requiring medical examiners to report specified cases to the national Sudden Unexpected Infant Death and Sudden Death in the Young Case Registry in accordance with protocols established by the Department of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; requiring the department to impose certain administrative penalties against medical examiners for failure to report such cases in a specified timeframe, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDMedical examiners must give sudden infant and child deaths -- including SIDS, SUID, and SDY cases -- an autopsy with microscopic and toxicology studies, a review of immunization and medical records, and documentation of any immunizations given in the 90 days before death.
The same enhanced autopsy and documentation duties extend to a suspected Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome case at any age, though the case is only reported to the national registry if the person was younger than 20.
Every qualifying case must be reported to the national SUID and SDY registry within 30 days after the medical examiner completes the autopsy report.
A medical examiner who misses that deadline faces a fine of up to $1,000 for a first unreported case, up to $5,000 for a second, and possible referral for discipline -- including suspension or removal -- after repeated noncompliance.
AIA medical examiner must report a SIDS, SUID, SDY, or under-20 SADS case to the national SUID and SDY Case Registry, following protocols the Department of Health and the CDC establish.
AIFor a sudden infant or child death, the medical examiner must record in the autopsy report any immunizations or emergency countermeasures the child received in the 90 days before death.
AIThe Department of Health must fine a district medical examiner who misses the 30-day reporting deadline -- up to $1,000 for a first unreported case and up to $5,000 for a second -- and refer repeated noncompliance for possible suspension or removal.
AIA suspected Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome case gets the same expanded autopsy -- microscopic and toxicology studies plus immunization and medical record review -- regardless of the decedent's age, not just for the young.
AIComplying with these autopsy documentation and registry-reporting duties counts as a permissible disclosure under state and federal medical privacy statutes, including HIPAA, rather than a prohibited release of protected health information.