MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A bill which would make it a felony for a medical examiner to retain possession of a dead person's organs without consent has passed the Alabama House of Representatives. This, amid allegations from the families of several Alabama Department of Corrections inmates who died in prison, whose bodies were returned to loved ones missing one or more organs.
House Bill 200, written by Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa), adds to an existing law prohibiting medical examiners from retaining organs post-autopsy without notification and consent from next-of-kin. It would make violating this law a Class-C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
"A medical examiner ... shall not retain a deceased person's entire organ or organs for research or any other purpose not in conjunction with a determination of identification or cause or manner of death without notification to, and approval by, the appropriate next of kin," the bill's language states.
"We're just letting people know that we are paying attention, and the law needs to be followed," Rep. England said.
England said the issue was not on his “bingo card” for the year, but it became necessary to introduce. The bill was approved with little debate.
The measure passed in an 89-1 vote and now moves on to the Senate. If signed into law, the changes would be effective October 1.
The daughter of Charles Edward Singleton, a deceased Alabama inmate, said her father's body was missing all of his internal organs when it was returned in 2021.
The family of Brandon Clay Dotson, who died in a state prison in November, filed a federal lawsuit earlier this year against the Alabama Department of Corrections and others saying his body was decomposing and his heart was missing when his remains were returned to his family. His family filed a lawsuit seeking to find out why his heart was removed and to have it returned to them.
Lauren Faraino, an attorney representing Dotson's family, said via email that the experience of multiple families shows this is “absolutely part of a pattern.”
Dotson's family originally named UAB among defendants in their case but later dropped them. The university health system remains a party to several other families' suits.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
