Should freezing be delayed for autopsy?

In what may be the first case of its kind, a decedent’s wishes to be frozen are in conflict with the government’s right to perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Here are some details from Colleen Jenkins, Tampa man’s wish to be frozen after death prompts fight over autopsy, St. Petersburg Times, Dec. 11, 2009:

When authorities found Michael Ned Miller dead in his apartment last week, the 48-year-old man wore a medical bracelet with explicit instructions: no autopsy, no embalming.

Deeming Miller’s death suspicious, the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office decided to perform an autopsy anyway.

But just as a doctor began to cut open Miller’s chest, a cryonics company called and asked him to stop. The reason: Miller wanted his body preserved at ultra-cold temperatures in the same Arizona facility where baseball legend Ted Williams’ remains are housed.

An autopsy would dash his hopes of one day being revived and restored to good health. The medical examiner’s office wouldn’t release Miller’s body. So Thursday, the two sides went to court to sort out the legal, religious and emotional complications in a case that may be the first of its kind in Florida. * * *

An emergency hearing took place [December 10, 2009]. Wolff, an Alcor attorney based in Fort Lauderdale, said a full autopsy on Miller served no public interest. He noted that one of the people pushing for the autopsy was Miller’s estranged wife who lives in Pennsylvania, someone he had not seen in eight years. * * * 

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Martha Cook ruled against the cryonics company, saying she would not interfere with Adams’ [the medical examiner] legal duty. * * *

But after the hearing, he met with Alcor attorneys and agreed to try to minimize the dissection of Miller’s body.

Special thanks to Ken Coughlin (www.elderlawanswers.com) for bringing this development to my attention.