(A) If a person dies:

(1) as a result of violence;

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 17-5-530

  • Autopsy: means the dissection of a dead body and the removal and examination of bone, tissue, organs, and foreign objects for the purpose of determining the cause of death and manner of death. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
  • Coroner: means the person elected or serving as the county coroner pursuant to Section 24 of Article V of the South Carolina Constitution, 1895, this chapter, and Chapter 7 of Title 17. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Manner of death: refers to the means or fatal agency that caused a death. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
  • Medical examiner: means the licensed physician or pathologist designated by the county medical examiner's commission pursuant to Article 5 of this chapter for the purpose of performing post-mortem examinations, autopsies, and examinations of other forms of evidence required by this chapter. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5
  • Post-mortem examination: means examination after death and includes an examination of the dead body and surroundings by the medical examiner but does not include dissection of the body for any purpose. See South Carolina Code 17-5-5

(2) as a result of apparent suicide;

(3) when in apparent good health;

(4) when unattended by a physician;

(5) in any suspicious or unusual manner;

(6) while an inmate of a penal or correctional institution;

(7) as a result of stillbirth when unattended by a physician; or

(8) in a health care facility, as defined in § 44-7-130(10) other than nursing homes, within twenty-four hours of entering a health care facility or within twenty-four hours after having undergone an invasive surgical procedure at the health care facility;

a person having knowledge of the death immediately shall notify the county coroner‘s or medical examiner‘s office. This procedure also must be followed upon discovery of anatomical material suspected of being or determined to be a part of a human body.

(B) The coroner or medical examiner shall make an immediate inquiry into the cause and manner of death and shall reduce the findings to writing on forms provided for this purpose. If the inquiry is made by a medical examiner, the medical examiner shall retain one copy of the form and forward one copy to the coroner. In the case of violent death, one copy must be forwarded to the county solicitor of the county in which the death occurred.

(C) The coroner or medical examiner shall notify in writing the deceased person’s next-of-kin, if known, that in the course of performing the autopsy, body parts may have been retained for the purpose of investigating the cause and manner of death.

(D) In performing an autopsy or post-mortem examination, no body parts, as defined in § 44-43-305, removed from the body may be used for any purpose other than to determine the cause or manner of death unless the person authorized to consent, as defined in § 44-43-315, has given informed consent to the procedure. The person giving the informed consent must be given the opportunity to give informed consent and authorize the procedure on a witnessed, written consent form using language understandable to the average lay person after face-to-face communication with a physician, coroner, or medical examiner about the procedure. If the person authorizing the procedure is unable to consent in person, consent may be given through a recorded telephonic communication.

(E) If the coroner or medical examiner orders an autopsy upon review of a death pursuant to item (8) of subsection (A), the autopsy must not be performed:

(1) at the health care facility where the death occurred;

(2) by a physician who treated the patient; or

(3) by a physician who is employed by the health care facility in which the death occurred;

unless the coroner or medical examiner certifies that no reasonable alternative exists.

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