ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s highest court has ruled that medical examiners don’t have to return to families all organs from autopsied bodies or even tell them parts are missing.
The case involves a New York City couple who buried their 17-year-old son after a 2005 car crash, not knowing his brain was removed. Two months after the funeral, Jesse Shipley’s high school class saw his brain in a labeled jar during a morgue field trip. The Shipleys got it back and had a second funeral.
A jury awarded them $1 million for emotional distress, reduced to $600,000 by a midlevel court.
The Court of Appeals said medical examiners have discretion, not a legal obligation, to tell families organs have been kept and have no liability for not doing it.
- Posted June 12, 2015
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Court OKs keeping teen's brain for autopsy
headlines Macomb
- Special insight: Tax attorney relishes opportunity to help people
- Gov. Whitmer Proclaims March 2026 as March is Reading Month
- Nessel sues DHS, FEMA to recover grants to combat terrorism
- Warren man sentenced after conviction of First-Degree Child Abuse
- Court of Appeals decision keeps BlueOval Battery Park project on track
headlines National
- Judge orders SCOTUSblog founder Goldstein to home confinement until sentencing
- Plaintiff testifies about addiction in trial against social media companies
- EEOC reverses course on transgender workers’ right to choose restrooms
- Amazon sues review-selling websites, alleging fake online reviews
- Police identify employee at assisted living facility in murder of philanthropist attorney
- New directory of private lending options created as student loan regulations shift
