Autopsy reports for suicides could be confidential under new bill

Autopsy reports on people who died by suicide could be kept hidden from the public as the House gave a second reading to a bill that troubled a First Amendment advocate.

Under SB 474, the medical examiner’s autopsy report where the person’s manner of death is listed a suicide as well as videos, audio recordings and photographs depicting someone’s suicide would all become confidential.

Sen. Erin Grall, a Republican from Fort Pierce, sponsored the bill.

“It would also make autopsy reports of a person whose manner of death was suicide be confidential and exempt to protect the family from the often gruesome and highly sensitive descriptions of the loved ones,” Grall said Jan. 30 at a Senate Rules Committee, a stop on the way as her bill advanced through the Legislature leading up to Monday’s roll over for a third reading in the House. The Senate passed the bill 39-0 on Feb. 14.

Surviving spouses, adult children or siblings would be allowed to access the autopsy report, under the bill. 

People who want to access the records can seek a court order to obtain them, the bill said.

But Barbara Petersen, the Executive Director for Florida Center of Government Accountability, called the bill concerning.

“I understand its purpose but am a little worried it might be used as a means of covering up questionable deaths,” Peterson said. “What was the impetus for the bill — a question rarely answered. Our legislators need to remember that every exemption created is an exception to the constitution. Frankly, I’ve never been this dispirited about the state of open government in Florida.”

Over the years, some Florida journalists have sought autopsy reports for investigative stories, such as for cases where someone’s reported suicide seemed suspicious.

But the emotional toil behind the autopsy reports and other records which is why they should be kept from the public, Grall said.

“The Legislature finds that autopsy reports describe the deceased in a graphic and often disturbing fashion and that autopsy reports of a person whose manner of death was suicide may describe the deceased with graphic and gruesome self-inflicted wounds,” the bill said.