The Massachusetts State House. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Pointing to high-profile legal cases that resulted in dropped or reduced charges, lawmakers and parents on Monday renewed their push for legislation that would impose new oversight requirements on the chief medical examiner in cases involving the death of a young child.
Supporters pressed for passage of legislation that would make any autopsy findings involving children younger than two years old, plus all subsequent revisions to the autopsy report, subject to personal review and approval by the chief medical examiner.
Sen. Cindy Friedman, one of the bill's authors, told the Joint Committee on Public Health that involving the state's top investigator for suspicious or unexplained deaths in those reports would create more certainty and ensure accountability in emotionally fraught cases.