HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 583        FILED ON: 1/12/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2180

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relative to the transporting of deceased persons..

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

Section 4 of Chapter 38 of the General Laws, 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following two sentences after the phrase “tending to show the cause and circumstances of death.”:

“When transporting the body, the Medical Examiner, the Chief of Police of the city or town wherein the body lays, or any of their representatives must transport the body in a sealable plastic body bag. If any of the above listed parties are transporting a deceased person from a hospital, convalescent or nursing home, or any other medical facility that facility must have prepared the deceased for transportation in a sealable plastic body bag.”