BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1864
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1864 (Cooley) - As Amended March 17, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill defines "sudden unexplained death in childhood"
(SUDC), as the sudden death of a child one year of age or older
but under 18 years of age that is unexplained by the history of
the child and where a thorough post mortem exam fails to
demonstrate adequate cause for the death, and requires a coroner
to notify the parents or responsible adult of a child that comes
within the definition of the importance of taking tissue
AB 1864
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samples.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Unknown, but minor local costs to counties for the coroners to
provide the required notification to the parents or a
responsible adult, and to take tissue samples if the consent is
provided. It is doubtful these costs would exceed the threshold
for reimbursable mandate.
COMMENTS:
Background/Purpose. Current law requires a coroner to
investigate the circumstances, manner, and cause of specified
types of deaths, including violent, sudden, or unusual deaths;
unattended deaths; and deaths where the deceased has not been
attended to by a physician within 20 days before the death
occurred.
Current law requires that an autopsy be conducted, pursuant to a
standardized protocol developed by the State Department of
Public Health, when it is suspected that the cause of death is
sudden infant death syndrome.
Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) is the sudden and
unexpected death of a child over the age of 12 months which
remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation is
conducted. This must include; examination of the death scene,
performance of a complete autopsy, and a review of the child and
family's medical history. SUDC is a diagnosis of exclusion given
when all known and possible causes of death have been ruled out.
The intent of this bill is to encourage the taking of tissue
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samples from children who die suddenly and without apparent
reason, to assist research into SUDC.
Governor Brown vetoed a similar bill last year (AB 2029 -
Cooley), and stated: "Rather than creating a state mandate at
this juncture, we should rely on coroners to use their best
professional judgment to provide appropriate and relevant
information to next of kin for this difficult circumstance.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081