§ 130A-385. Duties of medical examiner upon receipt of notice; reports; copies.
§130A‑385. Duties of medical examiner upon receipt of notice; reports;copies.
(a) Upon receipt of anotification under G.S. 130A‑383, the medical examiner shall take chargeof the body, make inquiries regarding the cause and manner of death, reduce thefindings to writing and promptly make a full report to the Chief MedicalExaminer on forms prescribed for that purpose.
The Chief Medical Examiner orthe county medical examiner is authorized to inspect and copy the medicalrecords of the decedent whose death is under investigation. In addition, in aninvestigation conducted pursuant to this Article, the Chief Medical Examiner orthe county medical examiner is authorized to inspect all physical evidence anddocuments which may be relevant to determining the cause and manner of death ofthe person whose death is under investigation, including decedent's personalpossessions associated with the death, clothing, weapons, tissue and bloodsamples, cultures, medical equipment, X rays and other medical images. TheChief Medical Examiner or county medical examiner is further authorized to seekan administrative search warrant pursuant to G.S. 15‑27.2 for the purposeof carrying out the duties imposed under this Article. In addition to therequirements of G.S. 15‑27.2, no administrative search warrant shall beissued pursuant to this section unless the Chief Medical Examiner or countymedical examiner submits an affidavit from the office of the district attorneyin the district in which death occurred stating that the death in question isnot under criminal investigation.
The Chief Medical Examinershall provide directions as to the nature, character and extent of aninvestigation and appropriate forms for the required reports. The facilities ofthe central and district offices and their staff services shall be available tothe medical examiners and designated pathologists in their investigations.
(b) The medicalexaminer shall complete a certificate of death, stating the name of the diseasewhich in his opinion caused death. If the death was from external causes, themedical examiner shall state on the certificate of death the means of death,and whether, in the medical examiner's opinion, the manner of death wasaccident, suicide, homicide, execution by the State, or undetermined. Themedical examiner shall also furnish any information as may be required by theState Registrar of Vital Statistics in order to properly classify the death.
(c) The Chief MedicalExaminer shall have authority to amend a medical examiner death certificate.
(d) A copy of thereport of the medical examiner investigation may be forwarded to theappropriate district attorney.
(e) In cases wheredeath occurred due to an injury received in the course of the decedent'semployment, the Chief Medical Examiner shall forward to the Commissioner ofLabor a copy of the medical examiner's report of the investigation, includingthe location of the fatal injury and the name and address of the decedent'semployer at the time of the fatal injury. The Chief Medical Examiner shallforward this report within 30 days of receipt of the information from themedical examiner.
(f) If a deathoccurred in a facility licensed subject to Article 2 or Article 3 of Chapter122C of the General Statutes, or Articles 1 or 1A of Chapter 131D of theGeneral Statutes, and the deceased was a client or resident of the facility ora recipient of facility services at the time of death, then the Chief MedicalExaminer shall forward a copy of the medical examiner's report to the Secretaryof Health and Human Services within 30 days of receipt of the report from themedical examiner. (1955, c. 972, s. 1; 1957, c. 1357, s. 1; 1967, c.1154, s. 1; 1973, c. 476, s. 128; 1977, 2nd Sess., c. 1145; 1983, c. 891, s. 2;1989, c. 353, s. 2; c. 797; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 894, s. 6; 2000‑129,s. 4.)