Senate Bill 546
By: Senators Williams of the 25th, Dolezal of the 27th, Anderson of the 24th, Harbin of the
16th and Strickland of the 42nd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 2 of Chapter 16 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to death investigations, so as to require coroners and medical examiners to include
microscopic and toxicology studies and immunization records in the investigation of a
sudden and unexpected death of a child; to amend Code Section 31-12-3.1 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to vaccination registry, reporting requirements,
maintenance, and use of information, so as to allow coroners and medical examiners to
access vaccination records; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for
other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 2 of Chapter 16 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
death investigations, is amended by revising Code Section 45-16-32, relating to report of
examination and investigation, maintenance of copies, verification of foul play by forensic
laboratory, and transmittal of copies of reports to district attorneys, as follows:
"45-16-32.
The medical examiner and coroner shall complete a report of each medical examiner's
inquiry and coroner's investigation and shall maintain permanent records of such reports.
The coroner or county medical examiner may file all original reports with the clerk of the
superior court of the county. In cases where such report indicates a suspicion of foul play,
the medical examiner and peace officer in charge shall transmit any specimens, samples,
or other evidence to a forensic laboratory for analysis. In cases where reports indicating
foul play are verified by the forensic laboratory, the laboratory shall provide a completed
lab report to the appropriate prosecuting attorney where the acts or events leading to the
death occurred. <ins>In the case of an infant or child whose death is unexpected or unexplained,
the report of each medical examiner's inquiry and coroner's investigation shall include
microscopic and toxicology studies, a review of the child's immunization and medical
records, and any immunizations or emergency countermeasures administered to the child
within 90 days before the child's death."
</ins> SECTION 2.
Code Section 31-12-3.1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to vaccination
registry and reporting requirements, maintenance, and use of information, is amended by
revising subsection (e) as follows;
"(e)(1) Unless such person has opted out pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection,
individually identifiable vaccination information regarding a person may be provided to
the department by, or released by the department to:
(A) A health department, hospital, physician, or other provider of medical services to
the person;
(B) A school or child care facility in which the person is enrolled if the person is 18
years of age or younger; <del>or
</del>
(C) The United States Department of Health and Human Services and its subsidiaries
through a data use agreement, for the limited purpose of reporting vaccines
administered in response to a public health emergency declared pursuant to Code
Section 38-3-51, for the purpose of averting a serious and imminent threat to life and
safety, so long as the United States Department of Health and Human Services and its
subsidiaries adhere to state and federal privacy laws and so long as a person's name is
not provided by the department; <ins>or
(D) A coroner or medical examiner conducting an inquiry or report pursuant to Code
Section 45-16-32
</ins> without the consent of the person or the person's parents or guardians.
(2) Any person or person's parent or guardian if the person is 18 years of age or younger
may request an exemption from enrollment in the state-wide vaccine registry. All
persons shall be enrolled unless a specific exemption is requested by the person or the
person's parent or guardian if the person is 18 years of age or younger. A parent or
guardian may obtain and upon request to the department shall be provided with all
individually identifiable vaccination registry information regarding his or her child or
ward. Except as provided otherwise by this Code section, individually identifiable
vaccination registry information shall be treated as confidential and shall not be released
to a third party without consent of the person or the person's parent or guardian if the
person is 18 years of age or younger."
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.