Should covid-19 deaths be revealed?

Alan Wilson's office finds court rulings differ

Posted 4/22/20

Can Lexington County's coroner reveal to the public when covid-19 costs someone’s life?

A legal opinion by Attorney General Alan Wilson's office is inconclusive due to conflicting SC Supreme …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Subscribe to continue reading. Already a subscriber? Sign in

Get 50% of all subscriptions for a limited time. Subscribe today.

You can cancel anytime.
 

Please log in to continue

Log in

Should covid-19 deaths be revealed?

Alan Wilson's office finds court rulings differ

Posted

Can Lexington County's coroner reveal to the public when covid-19 costs someone’s life?
A legal opinion by Attorney General Alan Wilson's office is inconclusive due to conflicting SC Supreme Court decisions.
“Only a court can resolve this question with finality, especially given the unprecedented nature of the current emergency,” said the opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General David Jones.
Prior SC Supreme Court rulings would support either confidentiality or disclosure of the cause of death in corona virus death cases, the opinion says.
A 1984 state Supreme Court ruling, Society of Professional Journalists v. Sexton, holds that death certificates are public records. Since death certificates list cause of death, that information should be disclosed when the death certificate is made public.
A person’s right to privacy is limited when the matter to be made public “is of legitimate public or general interest,” the state Supreme Court held.
A separate 2014 state Supreme Court ruling, Perry v. Bullock, concerning coroners’ autopsy reports, says that “medical records ... and other records which by law are required to be closed to the public” are not considered to be open to the public, the Attorney General’s opinion noted.
A state law concerning public health emergencies puts strict limits on what information can be disclosed during a public health emergency and that law would likely prohibit identifying people who die from covid-19, the opinion says.
Sabrina Gast, president of the SC Coroners Association, wrote Wilson, “Most of the time, natural deaths are of no interest to media, however, you can imagine that in our current environment, the media is very interested. Our concern grows out of safety of the families left behind.”
We at the Chronicle are interested in our readers' opinions.
We respect families' rights to privacy but the public has a interest in this because of their own safety concerns for their families.
Please share your opinion by writing JerryBellune@yahoo.com
 

Alan Wilson, coroners, covid-19 deaths

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here