question about autopsies

[DocRafiki]

when a young person dies from no apparent cause, are there laws requiring an autopsy?

my neighbor came knocking today. i saw through the keyhole that she was shaking, and i thought for sure she was going to tell me her dog died and she didn't know what to do. the dog is morbidly obese, i've been expecting it wouldn't be long. i was so surprised when she said it was her husband! completely unexpected... died in bed a few hours before. he was ~38-40 yrs old. this was the only person in this complex that i really ever talked to; just said "hi" & such to his wife. anyway, i feel so bad for her. she was freaking out, didn't know what to do with her animals... had to get on a flight. but it sounded like she was flying out right away for funeral reasons. i thought that was strange since i would definitely want to know what caused it. he did have an adrenal tumor removed several months ago, but that was supposed to be taken care of. she said he hit his head a few days ago & that's all she could think of. i just started wondering about the autopsy thing and thought someone here would know something about that.

this is a weird day. to top it off, my good friend, sworn to be childless for a long time to come (though married for 4 years now) is pregnant! it's blowing my mind. the way she was talking, it sounded like she wanted to do it to help the marriage (maybe i'm reading too much into it, but it seems they've been fighting constantly for over a year now). i'm sure i'd be more freaked about that news if it weren't for my neighbor.... i just didn't know what i could do to help this woman. i guess she was so stunned that she just needed someone to tell her what needed to be done. i can't keep her dogs, so all i'm doing is feeding her bird. i feel so inadequate

 

[Kermit]

It probably depends on the laws of the state you live in, but I've known of people who were required to have an autopsy because there was no other apparent cause of death. She may not even know that it's going to be happening. I'd guess that they'd have to tell her, but she may not have been paying attention. That is incredibly sad. I hope for her sake that she does get some answers. It won't fix anything, but it may help her find closure.

 

[nativetxn]

Feeding her bird is a big help too, Doc. We all do the best we can do, and you are helping.

What a sad story and what a shock for your neighbor. I think anyone who dies who isn't under the care of a physician at the time of death must have an autopsy, but my last dealings with a situation like this one was 6 years ago, things may have changed since then.

 

[fireplug]

In our area the question about whether to autopsy or not is decided by certain criteria. In the case of sudden death w/o an underlying terminal medical condition, an autopsy is almost always performed.

I hope your neighbor has some good family member to help her throgh this. She will need some company when all the relatives are gone and she is home alone too.


Steve

 

[Poohlovr]

In our county, whether or not an autopsy has to be performed is up to the coroner. The coroner is called for any death outside of a hospital or nursing home and, if a person dies within 24 hrs of admission to either of those facilities, the coroner is still called.

 

[DocRafiki]

that is good... i think he gets an autopsy (i think). i don't know why it matters to me, just that i'm used to wanting to know, i guess.

yes, luckily, his and her families are in the northeast. they set up her flight and are taking care of the arrangements. but i don't think she has anyone back here... or else she wouldn't have come knocking on my door, i figure. she doesn't know if she's going to continue living here or not. i get the feeling she's worried about money. these are fairly cheap apartments, but when i talked to him in the past, they didn't seem to be doing much better than scrimping by.

i'm feeling pretty dumb now... i didn't even think to offer to drive her to the airport or go buy her an airline crate for the dog she's bringing with her. but, she got herself together and got off ok.

uck.

 

[bumcat]

My mom died in her sleep when she was 30. An autopsy was automatically done.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Nice to see you caring about your neighbor, Jen. Hoping she does okay in the days and time ahead. So very sad.

 

[goofygirl]

My friends' father died at 40yrs old in his sleep. No autopsy was done. They were Jewish, and supposedly autopsies are against the religion. There was no law they had to abide by, but this was 1987, it could be different now. We just all assumed he had a heart attack or anuerism(sp?) in his sleep. It was scary!


PS- about your pregnant friend- I think its a stupid move to get pregnant to save a marriage. Be prepared for things to go downhill into a divorce. I've seen this kind of thing many times. Its a bad move. The only thing you can do is just continue to be her friend.

 

[Judy from Boise]

In our county, whether or not an autopsy has to be performed is up to the coroner. The coroner is called for any death outside of a hospital or nursing home and, if a person dies within 24 hrs of admission to either of those facilities, the coroner is still called.

exactly the same for us.

 

[bumcat]

My mom was jewish and died in 1970. In her case I think they suspected foul play but that wasn't the case. I would think if they suspect foul play they would do an autopsy regardless of your religion. Maybe it varies by state, she was living in Maryland at the time.

 

[abaldacci]

My guess would be yes because of age and it a sudden death.

 

[doxdogy]

If I am not mistaken, the norm in Florida is to perform an autopsy.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Jen,

I'm so sorry for your neighbor. Don't worry...by taking care of her bird you ARE helping! As an FYI...here are the Florida Statutes regarding autopsy. Check out 406.11. I find this interesting because when my husband died, they did an autopsy. And I don't recall giving permission. They just did it.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes..._Statute&Search_String=&URL=CH0406/Ch0406.HTM