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- CAP Urges Missouri House to Revise Autopsy Bill
The CAP urged Missouri State House to clarify technical concerns with a current autopsy state house bill where only pathologists are the ones who conduct or oversee autopsies and how to communicate with the deceased family after the autopsy. Through its state advocacy program, the CAP lobbies state legislatures to ensure that pathologists have a scope of practice consistent with their education and training.
In a January 19 letter to Missouri House Rep. Ian Makey, Chair of the Federal and State Affairs Committee, David Gang, MD, FCAP, outlined the CAP’s issues with Missouri State House Bill 131. Dr. Gang serves as the chair of the CAP’s Federal and State Affairs Committee. The problems include clarification on the autopsy system and tissue definition about the deceased family consultation.
The CAP has technical and scientific concerns with Missouri State House Bill 131. It suggests amendments “to mitigate potentially burdensome obligations that will overwhelm the already highly strained medical examiner and autopsy system.” Currently, under Missouri law, pathologists are exclusively qualified to conduct autopsies. Any person who assists in autopsies, “under the direction of a pathologist, and who is not licensed as a physician under chapter 334 shall register with the division of professional registration of the department of commerce and insurance,” Dr. Gang stated in the letter.
Furthermore, the CAP sought for the bill to ensure that the medical examiner or pathologist is unimpeded in communicating with the next of kin or family of the decedent regarding the disposition of retained organs or tissues. The CAP also wanted to clarify when to communicate to the deceased family member only when it applies to an "intact organ or large tissue specimen.
“We don't believe that the sponsor's intent, nor the decedent's family interest is to create a mandate on pathologist notification regarding cellular remains of a non-significant nature, but instead should be focused on the disposition of ‘intact organs and large tissue specimens,’ which could hold emotional or religious significance to the decedent's family or next of kin.”