Private autopsy?

[Hisgirl]

Has anyone ever desired an autopsy, had it denied by the medical examiner, but had a private one done?

If so, were you pleased with the process? How much did it run?

without going into any details, someone died by suicide today and because of the extreme change in personality that occurred over the past 15 months, the family is desperate to know if he had a brain disorder, cancer, a parasite, fungus...something. No drugs or alcohol are involved.

Medical examiner said cause of death is suicide and no autopsy needed.

We just now heard this could be an option. Any advice is appreciated. We are beyond devestated.

 

[bcla]

Depends. A lot of counties (or sometimes cities) contract out with private forensic pathologists. If you followed the Gabby Petito case, the Teton County Coroner was a private practice doctor where he actually did autopsies even though it wasn't his specialty. I guess sometimes one can even hire out whoever the local government uses.

But yeah there's almost always a right to secure the services of a private pathologist. They usually have the right to use public facilities to conduct the autopsy, like here with Santa Clara County.

https://medicalexaminer.sccgov.org/private-autopsy​

The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office is mandated by law to investigate both the cause and manner of death for all violent, sudden, unusual or unattended deaths. Although we complete a thorough investigation into each of these cases, an autopsy is not always required before making a professional medical determination as to the actual cause of death. If there is a request for further investigation for family medical or other substantiated reasons, the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office will assist in the facilitation of a “private autopsy” pursuant to California State Government Code Section 27520. All costs associated with such a “private autopsy” shall be borne by the requesting party.​

 

[Colleen27]

I know it is possible but I wasn't close enough to the person in my life who went that route to know anything about the process. It was a similar situation, though - a suicide following personality changes. The family had specific suspicions about the cause that were confirmed by a private autopsy after the county ME said one was unnecessary, and have since adopted prevention of similar injuries as something of a personal crusade.

Best wishes to you and everyone else involved in navigating these painful waters. I hope the family is able to find the answers they're looking for.

 

[tvguy]

Never heard of a coroner refusing an autopsy if the family wanted one. May not be legally required, but I thought they had to do one if the family requested it.

 

[Jml813]

OP, what state is this located in so we can give you a little bit more assistance? So sorry for your loss.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

We did it for my FIL. It was $3k 5 years ago.

 

[JimMIA]

Sorry for your loss. This is going to be a bit gross, but you need to know that there are important differences between private autopsies.

I won't dwell on private autopsies after official autopsies, but the Gaby Petito private autopsy was nothing like what you are talking about. In an official autopsy, significant alterations are made which very much limit the scope of a subsequent private autopsy.

The first thing for the family to find out is whether or not the body has been embalmed. Probably not, but that's an important question. Then, ask the medical examiner for a referral. I'm sure they know competent people who do private autopsies. Obviously, the cost will vary by where you are, how much detail you are looking for, etc.

 

[JimMIA]

Also, no need to be mad at the medical examiner.

A ME's duty is to determine the manner and cause of death. They are there to determine -- in unattended deaths -- whether the manner of death was a) natural, b) accidental, c) suicide, or d) homicide.

Homicide means killed by another human, NOT necessarily murder -- it could be murder, manslaughter, accidental, negligent homicide...lots of things.

Many deaths have obvious causes that require no detailed examination of the body. If that's the case in this suicide, all the ME is required to do is to declare it a suicide. Anything further probably shouldn't be done at taxpayer expense, and I'm sure some jurisdictions have strict regulations on that subject.

 

[AlohaNow]

I'm so sorry to hear of what you are going through right now. DH used to work in the funeral industry so I posed your question to him. He stated just what JimMIA said, ask the medical examiner or funeral home for a referral. You are requesting a 'medicolegal autopsy' and the cost could be between $3-5K.

I wish you and your family peace in the coming weeks.

 

[Hisgirl]

This was in Ga. The body will be released tomorrow to funeral home. Thank you.

 

[tvguy]

Also, no need to be mad at the medical examiner.

A ME's duty is to determine the manner and cause of death. They are there to determine -- in unattended deaths -- whether the manner of death was a) natural, b) accidental, c) suicide, or d) homicide.

Homicide means killed by another human, NOT necessarily murder -- it could be murder, manslaughter, accidental, negligent homicide...lots of things.

Many deaths have obvious causes that require no detailed examination of the body. If that's the case in this suicide, all the ME is required to do is to declare it a suicide. Anything further probably shouldn't be done at taxpayer expense, and I'm sure some jurisdictions have strict regulations on that subject.

I can't find the policy regarding an autopsy by our coroner if the death happened in our county.
But apparently or coroner will do autopsies for out of county deaths for $3086 . So they make money on doing autopsies for deaths outside their juridiction.
https://coroner.saccounty.gov/Documents/Out of County Autopsy.pdf

 

[JimMIA]

This was in Ga. The body will be released tomorrow to funeral home. Thank you.

If the family wants a private autopsy, that needs to be done before the body goes to a funeral home.