Constitutional Law

N.C. medical examiners drop SIDS checklist

By By The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The North Carolina medical examiner?s office says it is dropping a standardized checklist for suspicious infant deaths after learning the information in those reports must be made public.

The Charlotte Observer reported Nov. 13 that the change in policy came after the attorney general issued an opinion that the information in those reports would be public.

For the past six years, the state medical examiner?s office had encouraged the use of the reports as a way to standardize the investigation of infant deaths. Just last month, a state task force said it wanted police to use the checklist as part of all infant death investigations as a way to help prevent deaths in the future.

While admitting that the checklist is considered a best practice for investigating unexplained child deaths, the state?s new chief medical examiner, Dr. Deborah Radisch, says families might feel betrayed if the information isn?t kept private.

The state attorney general?s office said certain portions of the reports that wouldn?t be public include who medications in the household belong to, medical histories and any involvement with social services, mental health or other agencies.

At a meeting in Raleigh earlier this month, lawmakers, child advocates and others were told that the state medical examiner?s office would no longer use the document because of privacy issues.

Some say that is a step backward.

?That?s a big loss,? said Tom Vitaglione, chairman of a legislative task force that recommends new state laws to protect children. ?You can appreciate the need for good, standardized investigations.?

The detailed report is considered essential by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its study of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which mysteriously kills 2,500 sleeping babies in the U.S. each year.

The form reminds investigators to ask key questions about sleeping situations to help determine whether the death was actually from SIDS, which is considered a natural unpreventable death.

A series of articles in The Charlotte Observer found that two-thirds of the cases of SIDS in North Carolina had evidence of suffocation from risky sleep situations. The newspaper also found that police sometimes fail to investigate the deaths thoroughly.

Some pathologists say officials should find ways to keep using the reports.

?I think they?re good because they result in collecting a standard set of information,? says Dr. Randy Hanzlick, chief medical examiner of Fulton County, Ga. ?It reminds the investigators to ask a certain set of questions. We have 20 to 40 infant deaths a year. It?s not an everyday thing. People tend to forget if they don?t do certain things every day.?

Hanzlick said whether the reports are public should not be a deciding factor in whether to use them. He said he would simply redact information that would violate confidentiality.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on November 14, 2010 (boomark / email).