Text: HSB00595                          Text: HSB00597
Text: HSB00500 - HSB00599               Text: HSB Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

House Study Bill 596

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Section 1.  Section 22.7, subsection 41, Code Supplement
  1  2 2001, is amended by striking the subsection and inserting in
  1  3 lieu thereof the following:
  1  4    41.  Medical examiner records and reports, including
  1  5 preliminary reports, investigative reports, and autopsy
  1  6 reports.  However, medical examiner records and reports may be
  1  7 released to a law enforcement agency and to the decedent's
  1  8 immediate next of kin.  Information regarding the cause and
  1  9 manner of death shall not be kept confidential under this
  1 10 subsection unless disclosure would jeopardize an investigation
  1 11 or pose a clear and present danger to the public safety or the
  1 12 safety of an individual.
  1 13    Sec. 2.  Section 144.28, subsection 1, Code 2001, is
  1 14 amended to read as follows:
  1 15    1.  The medical certification shall be completed and signed
  1 16 within twenty-four hours after death by the physician in
  1 17 charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition
  1 18 which resulted in death within seventy-two hours after receipt
  1 19 of the death certificate from the funeral director or
  1 20 individual who initially assumes custody of the body, except
  1 21 when inquiry is required by the county medical examiner.  When
  1 22 inquiry is required by the county medical examiner, the
  1 23 medical examiner shall investigate the cause of death and
  1 24 shall complete and sign the medical certification within
  1 25 twenty-four seventy-two hours after taking charge of the case
  1 26 determination of the cause of death.
  1 27    Sec. 3.  Section 331.802, subsection 3, paragraph g, Code
  1 28 2001, is amended to read as follows:
  1 29    g.  Death of a person if who was not under the care of a
  1 30 physician was not in attendance within thirty-six hours
  1 31 preceding death, excluding at the time of death and who was a
  1 32 prediagnosed terminal or bedfast cases for which the time
  1 33 period is extended to thirty days, and excluding case and
  1 34 death of a terminally ill patient who was admitted to and had
  1 35 received services from a hospice program, as defined in
  2  1 section 135J.1, if a physician or registered nurse employed by
  2  2 the program was not in attendance within thirty days preceding
  2  3 death.
  2  4    Sec. 4.  Section 331.804, subsection 1, Code 2001, is
  2  5 amended to read as follows:
  2  6    1.  After an investigation has been completed, including an
  2  7 autopsy if one is made performed, the body shall be delivered
  2  8 to prepared for transportation.  The body shall be transported
  2  9 by a funeral director, if chosen by a relative or friend of
  2 10 the deceased person, for burial or other appropriate
  2 11 disposition.  A medical examiner shall not use influence in
  2 12 favor of a particular funeral director.  However, if a person
  2 13 other than a funeral director assumes custody of a dead body,
  2 14 the person shall secure a burial-transit permit pursuant to
  2 15 section 144.32.  If no one claims a body, it shall be disposed
  2 16 of as provided in chapter 142.
  2 17    Sec. 5.  Section 331.805, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code
  2 18 2001, is amended to read as follows:
  2 19    b.  If the next of kin, guardian, or other person
  2 20 authorized to act on behalf of a deceased person has requested
  2 21 that the body of the deceased person be cremated, a permit for
  2 22 cremation must be obtained from a medical examiner.  However,
  2 23 a permit is not required if the deceased person was a member
  2 24 of an established religion whose tenets are opposed to the
  2 25 inspection or examination of the body of a deceased person.
  2 26 Cremation permits by the medical examiner must be made on the
  2 27 most current forms prepared at the direction of and approved
  2 28 by the state medical examiner, with copies forwarded to the
  2 29 state medical examiner's office.  Costs for the cremation
  2 30 permit issued by a medical examiner shall not exceed thirty-
  2 31 five seventy-five dollars.  The costs shall be borne by the
  2 32 family, next of kin, guardian of the decedent, or other
  2 33 person.
  2 34    Sec. 6.  Section 691.5, Code Supplement 2001, is amended to
  2 35 read as follows:
  3  1    691.5  STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER.
  3  2    1.  The office and position of state medical examiner is
  3  3 established for administrative purposes within the Iowa
  3  4 department of public health.  Other state agencies shall
  3  5 cooperate with the state medical examiner in the use of state-
  3  6 owned facilities when appropriate for the performance of
  3  7 nonadministrative duties of the state medical examiner.  The
  3  8 state medical examiner shall be a physician and surgeon or
  3  9 osteopathic physician and surgeon, be licensed to practice
  3 10 medicine in the state of Iowa, and be board certified or
  3 11 eligible to be board certified in anatomic and forensic
  3 12 pathology by the American board of pathology.  The state
  3 13 medical examiner shall be appointed by and serve at the
  3 14 pleasure of the director of public health upon the advice of
  3 15 and in consultation with the director of public safety and the
  3 16 governor.  The state medical examiner, in consultation with
  3 17 the director of public health, shall be responsible for
  3 18 developing and administering the medical examiner's budget and
  3 19 for employment of medical examiner staff and assistants.  The
  3 20 state medical examiner may be a faculty member of the
  3 21 university of Iowa college of medicine or the college of law
  3 22 at the university of Iowa, and any of the examiner's
  3 23 assistants or staff may be members of the faculty or staff of
  3 24 the university of Iowa college of medicine or the college of
  3 25 law at the university of Iowa.
  3 26    2.  Notwithstanding section 23A.2, the office of the state
  3 27 medical examiner may perform private consultation autopsies.
  3 28 Requests for consultation autopsies shall be referred to the
  3 29 director of public health and may be approved by the director
  3 30 if it is determined that the performance of the private
  3 31 consultation autopsy is not in direct competition with private
  3 32 pathology entities.  The Iowa department of public health
  3 33 shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to establish fees
  3 34 and charges for private consultation autopsies performed by
  3 35 the state medical examiner.  
  4  1                           EXPLANATION
  4  2    This bill includes provisions relating to the office of the
  4  3 state medical examiner.  The bill provides that medical
  4  4 examiner records and reports are confidential, but may be
  4  5 released to a law enforcement agency and to the decedent's
  4  6 immediate next of kin.  Information relating to the cause and
  4  7 manner of death is not confidential information, unless
  4  8 disclosure would jeopardize an investigation or pose a clear
  4  9 and present danger to the public safety or the safety of an
  4 10 individual.  The current law provides that preliminary
  4 11 findings and reports of the findings and investigative reports
  4 12 of the state medical examiner resulting from an autopsy are
  4 13 confidential.  Current law also provides that specifics such
  4 14 as the date, time, specific location and immediate facts and
  4 15 circumstances of a crime or incident related to a death that
  4 16 affects the public interest are not confidential unless
  4 17 disclosure would jeopardize an investigation or pose a clear
  4 18 and present danger to the public safety or the safety of an
  4 19 individual.
  4 20    The bill provides that medical certification of death is to
  4 21 be completed within 72 hours after receipt of the death
  4 22 certificate from the funeral director or individual who
  4 23 initially assumes custody of the body by the physician in
  4 24 charge of the patient's care, except when inquiry is required
  4 25 by the county medical examiner.  If inquiry is required by the
  4 26 county medical examiner, the medical certification is to be
  4 27 completed and signed by the county medical examiner within 72
  4 28 hours after determination of the cause of death.  Current law
  4 29 requires medical certification of death within 24 hours after
  4 30 death or if the county medical examiner requires an inquiry,
  4 31 within 24 hours of the medical examiner taking charge of the
  4 32 case.
  4 33    The bill provides that a death affecting the public
  4 34 interest includes the death of a person who was not under the
  4 35 care of a physician at the time of death and who was a
  5  1 prediagnosed terminal or bedfast case, and death of a
  5  2 terminally ill patient who was admitted to and received
  5  3 services from a hospice program if a physician or registered
  5  4 nurse was not in attendance within 30 days preceding death.
  5  5 Current law provides that a death in the public interest
  5  6 includes death of a person if a physician was not in
  5  7 attendance within 36 hours preceding death, death of a person
  5  8 who is a prediagnosed terminal or bedfast case if a physician
  5  9 was not in attendance within 30 days of the death, and death
  5 10 of a person who was admitted to and received services from a
  5 11 hospice program if a physician or registered nurse was not in
  5 12 attendance within 30 days preceding death.
  5 13    The bill provides that in the disposition of a body
  5 14 following an investigation by the county medical examiner, the
  5 15 body is to be prepared for transportation and transported by a
  5 16 funeral director, if one is chosen by a relative or friend of
  5 17 the deceased person, for burial or disposition.  If a person
  5 18 other than a funeral director assumes custody of the body, the
  5 19 person must secure a burial-transit permit.
  5 20    The bill eliminates the exemption from the obtaining of a
  5 21 cremation permit for any deceased person who was a member of
  5 22 an established religion whose tenets are opposed to the
  5 23 inspection or examination of a body of a deceased person, and
  5 24 increases the fee for a cremation permit from $35 to $75.  A
  5 25 person who violates the provision requiring a cremation permit
  5 26 is guilty of a serious misdemeanor.
  5 27    The bill authorizes the office of the state medical
  5 28 examiner to perform private consultation autopsies if the
  5 29 performance of the autopsy is not in direct competition with
  5 30 private pathology entities.  The bill directs the Iowa
  5 31 department of public health to adopt rules to establish fees
  5 32 and charges for such private consultation autopsies.  
  5 33 LSB 5336DP 79
  5 34 pf/pj/5.1
     

Text: HSB00595                          Text: HSB00597
Text: HSB00500 - HSB00599               Text: HSB Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

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