A potpourri of legal issues relating to the autopsy

Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Volumn 120, Issue 8, 1996, Pages 759-762

  Bierig, Jack R ^a  

^a SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AUTOPSY; BOARD OF TRUSTEES; CERTIFICATION; CONFERENCE PAPER; HEALTH CARE QUALITY; HEALTH INSURANCE; HUMAN; INFORMED CONSENT; LEGAL ASPECT; LEGAL LIABILITY; ORGAN DONOR; PATHOLOGIST; POLICY; REGIONALIZATION;

AUTOPSY; DUTY TO WARN; FORENSIC MEDICINE; HUMANS; INFORMED CONSENT; MEDICAL RECORDS; PREPAID HEALTH PLANS; PROFESSIONAL-FAMILY RELATIONS; TISSUE DONORS; TRANSPLANTATION; UNITED STATES;

EID: 0029813482     PISSN: 00039985     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (26)

1. See, eg, 55 ILCS 5/3-3015 (III); NY County §§673, 64 (NY).
2. See, eg, Donnelly v Guion, 467 F2d 290 (2d Cir 1972); Grad v Kaasa, 321 SE 2d 888 (NC 1984).
3. See, eg, NY Public Health Law §4210-c; Cal Govt Code §27491.43; La Rev Stat 33:1563; NJ Stat §52:17B-88; Ohio Rev Code §313, 131; RI Gen Laws §23-4-4.1.
4. Health-General Code of Md §5-310(b)(2).
5. Weberman v Zugibl, 394 NYS2d 371 (Super Ct 1977); You Vang Yang v Stumer, 728 F Supp 845 (DRIO, withdrawn, 750 F Supp 558 (DRI 1990).
6. Lawyer v Kernodle, 721 F2d 632 (8th Cir 1983).
7. Cherry v Harm, 429 SE2d 771 (NC App 1993).
8. Bambrick v Booth Memorial Medical Center, 593 NYS2d 252 (App Div 1993).
9. See, eg, French v Oechsner Clinic, 200 So2d 371 (La App 1967).
10. See, eg, Burgess v Perdue, 721 P2d 239 (Kan 1986).
11. See, eg, Tex Health & Safety Code §693.002; Cal Health & Safety Code §7151.5.
12. Brotherton v Cleveland, 923 F2d 477 (6th Cir 1991).
13. The Brotherton case was recently followed in a Michigan case, Whaley v County of Tuscola, 58 F3d 1111 (6th Cir 1995), in which the Court of Appeals ominously characterized the question as "what relief the Constitution might provide when a stale actor steals the eyes of a dead man." Id at 1112-1113.
14. A more outrageous set of facts was presented in Kirker v Orange County, 519 So2d 682 (Fla App 1988). There, the medical examiner removed a deceased child's corneas and eye globes despite the express objection of the mother. He then attempted to cover up the removal by falsifying the autopsy report. The Florida Appellate Court held that the mother had sufficiently alleged willful, wanton, or malicious behavior so as to support a claim for the intentional infliction of emotional distress.
15. See, eg, NY County §677; Fla Stat §415.504.
16. See Globe Newspaper Co v Chief Medical Examiner, 533 NE2d 1356 (Mass 1989).
17. See Herald Co v Murray, 524 NYS2d 949 (App Div 1988).
18. Globe Newspaper Co, 533 NE2d 1356.
19. Herald Co, 524 NYS2d 949.
20. Central General Hospital, Inc v Lukash, 532 NYS2d 527 (App Div 1988), aff'd, 539 NE2d 1107 (NY 1989).
21. See, eg, Behringer v Medical Center at Princeton, 592 A2d 1251 (NJ Super 1991) (hospital has duty to take "reasonable precautions" to prevent disclosure of AIDS-related information in patient's medical chart).
22. See, eg, United States v Topco, 405 US 596 (1972).
23. Tarasoff v Regents of U of Cal, 17 Cal 3d 425 (Cal 1976).
24. Reisner v Regents of U of Cal, 37 Cal Rptr 2d 518 (Cal App 1995).
25. See, eg, Ching v Gaines, 4 BNA's Health Law Rptr (Cal Super Ct, Nov 15, 1995) ($3 million awarded to family of woman who died of colon cancer where primary care physicians had financial incentive not to refer to specialist and failed to diagnose disease).
26. Cal Bus & Prof Code, §802.5.