HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3848        FILED ON: 1/16/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1787

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act to increase access to information regarding drug overdose deaths ..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section 1. Section 7 of Chapter 38 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the first paragraph and replacing it with the following:-

“If, during the course of investigation, the medical examiner is of the opinion that the death may have been caused by the act or negligence of another, or by the ingestion of narcotics, he or she shall at once notify the district attorney within whose district the deceased was found and the local law enforcement agency for such district or, if such act or negligence has occurred in a different district, the district attorney and the local law enforcement agency for such other district. He or she shall also make available to the district attorney and the local law enforcement agency any and all records pertaining to such investigation.”