It is inevitably painful and difficult to request an autopsy after someone you care deeply about has died. But if you don’t order the procedure in Idaho, you may lack crucial evidence in a malpractice suit.
Who requests the autopsy?
When an autopsy is ordered after the death of a patient due to suspected medical errors, it may be at the request of the family of the patient or by the hospital itself. Depending on which county you live in, the job may be given to the medical examiner’s office.
An autopsy may be ordered to figure out what caused the patient’s death or rule out unlikely possibilities. The goal of the procedure is to find out the main factors that may have contributed to the patient’s death. This makes autopsies critical in determining whether a patient’s death was an accident or if it occurred naturally.
A hospital mistake or medical malpractice occurs when the care a patient receives falls below the standard of what is expected of medical providers. It means that these treatment standards have been breached to an unacceptable level. The autopsy might prove this negligence and to show that the negligent provider’s actions are the reason why the patient died.
Who performs the autopsy?
After a loved one has died while under medical care and you believe it may have been the provider’s fault, it’s possible to request a private medical examiner, pathologist or coroner to perform the autopsy. In fact, this may be advisable.
If the doctor who performs the autopsy works at the same hospital that would be on the losing end of the suit, they might be biased and reluctant to say anything in their report that lays blame on the hospital itself. Since it’s the institution that they work for, there may be some incentive for them to attempt to hide the truth.
When you’re thinking about a medical malpractice suit, it will likely be necessary to request an autopsy. If you don’t have the procedure performed, you might not have the evidence you need to prove your case in court or even file the case to begin with.