State Law Provides for Autopsy for Terri Schiavo

Florida Statutes ^ | 2004 | State of Florida

[eartotheground]

406.11 Examinations, investigations, and autopsies.--

(1) In any of the following circumstances involving the death of a human being, the medical examiner of the district in which the death occurred or the body was found shall determine the cause of death and shall, for that purpose, make or have performed such examinations, investigations, and autopsies as he or she shall deem necessary or as shall be requested by the state attorney:

(a) When any person dies in the state:

1. Of criminal violence.

2. By accident.

3. By suicide.

4. Suddenly, when in apparent good health.

5. Unattended by a practicing physician or other recognized practitioner.

6. In any prison or penal institution.

7. In police custody.

8. In any suspicious or unusual circumstance.

9. By criminal abortion.

10. By poison.

11. By disease constituting a threat to public health.

12. By disease, injury, or toxic agent resulting from employment.

(b) When a dead body is brought into the state without proper medical certification.

(c) When a body is to be cremated, dissected, or buried at sea.

(2)(a) The district medical examiner shall have the authority in any case coming under subsection (1) to perform, or have performed, whatever autopsies or laboratory examinations he or she deems necessary and in the public interest to determine the identification of or cause or manner of death of the deceased or to obtain evidence necessary for forensic examination.

(b) The Medical Examiners Commission shall adopt rules, pursuant to chapter 120, providing for the notification of the next of kin that an investigation by the medical examiner's office is being conducted. A medical examiner may not retain or furnish any body part of the deceased for research or any other purpose which is not in conjunction with a determination of the identification of or cause or manner of death of the deceased or the presence of disease or which is not otherwise authorized by this chapter, part X of chapter 732, or chapter 873, without notification of and approval by the next of kin.

(3) The Medical Examiners Commission may adopt rules incorporating by reference parameters or guidelines of practice or standards of conduct relating to examinations, investigations, or autopsies performed by medical examiners.

History.--s. 6, ch. 70-232; s. 26, ch. 73-334; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 1, ch. 87-166; s. 29, ch. 97-103; s. 3, ch. 98-253.

[LRS]

I couldn't find the FL Statute covering cremation on the State's web site, but, I did find this at http://volusia.org/medicalexaminer/cremation.htm

---

Cremation approval
(Florida Statutes 406.11(1)(c))

A. All requests for cremation, burial at sea, or donations must be approved by the Medical Examiner prior to the actual cremation.

1. Before authorizing the irretrievable disposal of a body by cremation, the Medical Examiner must be assured that no future question will arise about the cause or circumstances of the death of the individual.
2. The death, if previously unreported to the Medical Examiner, must first be verified as a non-Medical Examiner case according to Florida Statutes, 406.11.

B. Approval of a cremation, and accepting the responsibility for irretrievably destroying potential evidence, is a decision based on the quality of the information on the death certificate. The death certificate should be accompanied by a CREMATION APPROVAL FORM filled out by the attending physician to demonstrate that the death was due to natural causes. The cause of death on the death certificate must be sufficient to:

1. rule out trauma,
2. identify the immediate cause(s) of death, i.e. septicemia, peritonitis, bronchopneumonia, renal failure, etc., and
3. identify the underlying or proximate cause of death - the "due to" disease or injury responsible for initiating the lethal sequence of events.

C. The most common pitfalls this office encounters with causes of death are:

1. failure to state the underlying cause of death;
2. scrambling of immediate and underlying causes of death; and
3. listing extraneous data in the section entitled 'Other Significant Conditions'. The section 'Other Significant Conditions' (Part II) should be used only for those conditions that contribute to death, but are unrelated to the cause(s) listed in Part I.

D. The CREMATION APPROVAL FORM is often helpful in clarifying the cause of death as well as providing additional medical history that assures that the death was not by violence.
Words like subdural, fracture, sepsis, fall, trauma, cardiac arrest, heart failure, hemiplegia, quadriplegia, paraplegia, and shock typically do not explain a natural death and often indicate a traumatic origin. It is necessary to rule out traumatic underlying causes or identify the natural disease processes,

[Edgerunner]

The name of the outfit is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is the investigative arm of the Department of Justice. One would assume that all orders come from the Attorney General's office. They have investigated such items as civil rights abuses by lawful agents of the state governments, and many various other crimes of officials. Wouldn't be surprised if RICO may get involved with this mess. This isn't the first time a group of judges got carried away with their own "power". Load up on popcorn...

[Ethrane]

actually I read it very closely...I just wasn't aware that she was going to be cremated.

But thanks for your opinion as to how closely I read it. Much obliged.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

You'd think that Mr. Schiavo would want an autopsy. He's hated by so many.

If the rumors of broken bones prove false and his wife's brain really was an "ink well" as Chris Matthew said then Mr. Schiavo would be cleared. IMO.

[Daisy4]

Yes, that's the way to go!! RICO Thanks for the info.

http://www.ricoact.com/ricoact/index.asp

[Diogenesis]

Judgenfuhrer Greer: "We black-robed Mullahs are fully aware that our Fatwahs
ordering death by starvation for the handicapped
are IDENTICAL to the penalty used by the Nazis for innocent people trying to escape Auschwitz crematoria."

---

GREER'S JUDICIAL/NAZI/WORLD

---

MICHAEL SCHIAVO's private Insurance company
JERGER & CENTONZE INSURNACE AGENCY, INC.
Notice how 'insurance' is conveniently misspelled

---

MICHAEL SCHIAVO'S lies and contradictory testimony in easy to read format

---

scientology_and_terri_schindler_schiavo_death_connection

---

The Rule of Terri's Case Strikes Again. -2004- Judge Greer's crimes

---

Law conveniently changed by Hospice where Terri is dying

---

[DelaWhere]

(c) When a body is to be cremated, dissected, or buried at sea.


Seems to be pretty direct reference to me - I see the word "Shall" used throughout...

[Peelod]

Try (1) (a) 3. By suicide.

Terri's desire to be "starved and dehydrated" (sic) is suicidal.

[LRS]

The District 6 ME page, covering Pinellas-Pasco, doesn't give the sort of detail that the Volusia page does. Link:

http://www.co.pinellas.fl.us/forensics/default.html

I did find something that may be of interest, in their FAQ's:

---

When is an Autopsy Necessary? [Top]

A complete autopsy is most often performed in traumatic or violent deaths (gunshot, stab, electrocution, burn, poison, fall, drowning, starvation, suffocation, strangulation, etc.), any police custody death, suspected suicide or drug overdose and in most cases of child death. Investigation or autopsy is necessary in all traumatic deaths regardless of the duration of survival or hospitalization of the injured person if no complete recovery was made after the injury .

An autopsy is not normally performed when the death appears to be from natural causes, adequate medical history exists, and there are no indications of foul play. The Medical Examiner often receives such cases only because the attending physician is not in Florida and cannot sign a Florida death certificate or the person has never been to a physician.

[Dad yer funny]

ping

[Never2baCrat]

Read 12.c again. Her husband wants her cremated.

[McGavin999]

When the body is to be cremated. Last one on the list.

[McGavin999]

I wonder if hospice "enrollment" will dive or climb after this?

Are you kidding? Every selfish kid in this country who's parents aren't dying fast enough are going to make a beeline for that place.

[McGavin999]

No, it could provide really important research information on brain damage. It would be invaluable for mankind.

[McGavin999]

Again, an autopsy would be a waste of time and money. The man should be allowed to cremate his wife, post haste, when she dies, if that's what he wants to do.

Yep, we all know that women are chattle and the property of their husbands. They get to do anything they want with their wives and nobody gets to say anything about it.

[isrul]

Certificate will probably say "natural causes".

[Lancey Howard]

You can count on Judge Greer stifling any such effort.

And there's nothing the Governor of Florida can do about it.

[Lancey Howard]

I don't believe that there is a statute of limitations for murder anywhere in the country.

[imfleck]

Thank you for your concern about my knowledge of world history, although I'm well aware of the crimes against humanity that the Nazi's committed.

This has nothing to do with that and the comparison is off base. It is intellectually disingenuous to make this association.