Autopsy

An autopsy is a medical examination of the body after death to determine the cause of death and the diseases present. In asbestos cases it can confirm mesothelioma, show asbestosis or pleural disease, and provide lung tissue for asbestos body and fiber counts. It is often the source of the tissue proof in a wrongful-death claim.

Origin

The word comes from Greek, meaning to see for oneself. Systematic autopsies became a foundation of modern medicine in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and much of what is known about asbestos disease, including the first descriptions of asbestosis and mesothelioma, came from autopsy studies.

Significance in Asbestos Context

When a person dies with suspected asbestos disease, an autopsy can settle questions that tests in life could not: whether a tumor was mesothelioma or lung cancer, whether asbestosis was present, and how many asbestos fibers are in the lungs. A full autopsy is not always needed; a limited examination of the chest, with sampling of the lungs and pleura, may be enough. Deaths from mesothelioma are reportable to the medical examiner or coroner in some places, but rules vary by state and county. Families can usually request a private autopsy, which must be arranged quickly, before burial or cremation, and requires consent from the legal next of kin. Some families decline for personal or religious reasons, and that is their choice; claims can often still proceed on the medical records and existing tissue. If an autopsy is done, the tissue is kept in paraffin blocks that should be preserved.

Example Sentence

Because his only biopsy had been a small needle sample, the family agreed to a limited chest autopsy, which confirmed sarcomatoid mesothelioma.

Related Terms

Wrongful Death, Survival Action, Paraffin Block, Fiber Burden Analysis, Tissue Digestion, Pathology Report, Death Certificate, Personal Representative

Notes

• If an autopsy may be wanted, talk to the doctor, the funeral home and your lawyer before arrangements are made; time is short.
• Ask that the autopsy include sampling of the lungs and pleura and that the blocks be preserved.
• An autopsy is a family decision; a claim can often go forward without one.
• Get a copy of the final autopsy report, which may take weeks to complete.