July 12, 2006, Introduced by Reps. Sak, Plakas, Gaffney, Adamini, Brown, Green, Alma Smith, Leland, Espinoza, Kooiman, Bennett, Farrah, Gonzales, Steil, Gleason, Byrum, Hansen, Vander Veen, Wojno, Angerer, Nofs, Vagnozzi, McDowell, Farhat and Clack 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 3, 4, and 5 (MCL 52.203, 52.204, and 52.205),
section 5 as amended by 1980 PA 401.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 3. (1) Any physician and any person in charge of any
hospital or institution, or any person who shall have first
knowledge of the death of any person who shall have died suddenly,
unexpectedly, accidentally, violently, or as the result of any
suspicious circumstances, or without medical attendance during the
48 hours prior to the hour of death unless the attending physician,
if any, is able to determine accurately the cause of death, or in
any case of death due to what is commonly known as an abortion,
whether self-induced or otherwise, shall notify the county medical
examiner or his or her deputy immediately of the death.
(2) If the physician, person in charge of any hospital or
institution, or other person who has first knowledge of the death
of a person as described under subsection (1) has knowledge that
there were 2 or more individuals involved in the same accident who
were approximately the same age, sex, and race, then he or she
shall make the county medical examiner or his or her deputy aware
of that fact when notifying the examiner or deputy of the death as
required under subsection (1).
Sec. 4. It shall be unlawful for any funeral director,
embalmer, or other person to remove the body from the place where
death occurred, or to prepare the body for burial or shipment, when
such funeral director, embalmer, or other person knows or upon
reasonable investigation should know that death may have occurred
in a manner as indicated in section 3 or that the accident which
resulted in the death involved 2 or more individuals who were
approximately the same age, sex, and race, without first notifying
the county medical examiner or his or her deputy and receiving
permission to remove, prepare for burial, or ship such body. Any
person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor
and may be imprisoned not exceeding 1 year , or
fined
not exceeding $500.00, or both.
Sec. 5. (1) When a county medical examiner has notice that
there has been found within his or her county or district the body
of a person who is supposed to have come to his or her death in a
manner as indicated in section 3, the medical examiner shall take
charge of the body, and if, on view of the body and personal
inquiry into the cause and manner of the death, the medical
examiner considers a further examination necessary, the county
medical examiner or a deputy may cause the dead body to be removed
to the public morgue. If the investigation is for the reason only
that the dead person had no medical attendance during 48 hours
before the hour of death, and if the dead person had chosen not to
have medical attendance because of his or her bona fide held
religious convictions, removal shall not be required unless there
is evidence of other conditions stipulated in section 3. If there
is no public morgue, then the body may be removed to a private
morgue as the county medical examiner has designated.
(2) The medical examiner may designate a person appointed
pursuant to 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 medical examiner. The medical
examiner shall maintain a list of persons appointed pursuant to
section 1a(2) and their qualifications which shall be filed with
the local law enforcement agencies. The person appointed pursuant
to section 1a(2) shall not be an agent or employee of any person or
funeral
establishment licensed under Act No. 268 of the Public
Acts
of 1949, as amended, being sections 338.861 to 338.875 of the
Michigan
Compiled Laws 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, or the person 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 fact and circumstance tending to show the
condition of the body and the cause and manner of death, together
with the names and addresses of any persons present at the autopsy,
which record he or she shall subscribe.
(4) The medical examiner shall ascertain the identity of the
deceased and notify immediately as compassionately as possible the
next of kin of the death and the location of the body except that
such notification is not required if a person from the state
police, or
a county sheriff department, or
a township police
department, or a municipal police department states to the medical
examiner that the notification has already occurred. If visual
identification of an individual 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, and race, then the county medical examiner shall
verify the identity of the deceased through fingerprints, dental
records, DNA, or other definitive identification procedures. The
county medical examiner may conduct an autopsy if he or she
determines that an autopsy reasonably appears to be required
pursuant
to law. After the county medical examiner, or a deputy,
or
a person from the state police, or
a county sheriff
department, or
a township police department, or a
municipal
police department has made diligent effort to locate and notify the
next of kin, he or she may order and conduct the autopsy with or
without the consent of the next of kin of the deceased.
(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. The county
medical examiner shall, after any required examination or autopsy,
promptly deliver or return the body to relatives or representatives
of the deceased or, if there are no relatives or representatives
known to the examiner, he or she may cause the body to be decently
buried, except that the medical examiner may retain, as long as may
be necessary, any portion of the body believed by the medical
examiner to be necessary for the detection of any crime.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 6309(request no.
07082'06 a) of the 93rd Legislature is enacted into law.