medical examiners; vaccine; reporting

HB2774 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
medical examiners; vaccine; reporting

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 2774

Introduced by

Representative
Powell

AN
ACT

amending sections 11-597 and 36-104,
arizona revised statutes; relating to the county medical examiner.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 11-597, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
11-597.

Autopsies; reports; exemption from liability

A. The county medical examiner or alternate medical
examiner shall conduct a death investigation to determine whether or not the
public interest requires an external examination, autopsy or other special
investigation.

B. An external examination or autopsy is not
required for deaths due to natural diseases that occur during surgical or
anesthetic procedures unless the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner
determines that an external examination or autopsy is necessary.

C. In the determination of the need for an autopsy,
the county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner may consider the
request for an autopsy made by private persons or public
officials. If the county attorney or a superior court judge of the
county where the death occurred requests an autopsy, the county medical
examiner shall perform the autopsy, or, in the case of an alternate medical
examiner, an autopsy shall be performed by a forensic pathologist.

D. A forensic pathologist shall perform an autopsy
in cases of sudden and unexplained infant death in accordance with protocols
adopted by the director of the department of health services. If the
medical examiner or forensic pathologist determines that the infant died of
sudden infant death syndrome, the medical examiner or forensic pathologist
shall notify the department of health services. The medical examiner
or forensic pathologist may retain tissue samples, specimens and other
biological materials for diagnostic purposes.

E. If an autopsy is performed, a full record or
report of the facts developed by the autopsy in the findings of the person
performing the autopsy shall be properly made and filed in the office of the
county medical examiner or the board of supervisors. If the person
performing the autopsy determines that the report should be forwarded to the
county where the death occurred or the county in which any injury contributing
to or causing the death was sustained, the report shall be forwarded to the
county attorney.

F. A county attorney may request and on request
shall receive from the county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner a
copy of the report on any autopsy performed.

g. If a county medical examiner,
alternate medical examiner or forensic pathologist performs an autopsy and
determines that the cause of death was due to a condition or side effect
associated with the administration of a vaccine, the county medical examiner,
alternate medical examiner or forensic pathologist shall submit a copy of the
report to the DEPARTMENT Of health services.

G.

h.
The
county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner may perform other tests
deemed necessary to determine identity and the cause and manner of death and
may retain tissues, specimens and other biological materials for subsequent
examination.

H.

I.
When
a death investigation, including an external examination, autopsy or other
tests are performed by
the

a
county
medical examiner, alternate medical examiner or
a

forensic pathologist, no cause of action shall lie against the physician or any
other person for
:

1.
Requesting, performing,
participating in or determining the cause and manner of death or otherwise
reporting the results from the external examination, death investigation,
autopsy or other tests or for retaining specimens, tissues or other biological
materials.

2. determining in good faith that the
cause of death was due to a condition or side effect associated with the
administration of a vaccine.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 36-104, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
36-104.

Powers and duties

This section is not to be construed as a statement of the
department's organization. This section is intended to be a
statement of powers and duties in addition to the powers and duties granted by
section 36-103. The director shall:

1. Administer the following services:

(a) Administrative services, which shall include at
a minimum the functions of accounting, personnel, standards certification,
electronic data processing, vital statistics and the development, operation and
maintenance of buildings and grounds used by the department.

(b) Public health support services, which shall
include at a minimum:

(i) Consumer health protection programs, consistent
with paragraph 25 of this section, that include at least the functions of
community water supplies, general sanitation, vector control and food and
drugs.

(ii) Epidemiology and disease control programs that
include at least the functions of chronic disease, accident and injury control,
communicable diseases, tuberculosis, venereal disease and others.

(iii) Laboratory services programs.

(iv) Health education and training programs.

(v) Disposition of human bodies programs.

(c) Community health services, which shall include
at a minimum:

(i) Medical services programs that include at least
the functions of maternal and child health, preschool health screening, family
planning, public health nursing, premature and newborn program, immunizations,
nutrition, dental care prevention and migrant health.

(ii) Dependency health care services programs that
include at least the functions of need determination, availability of health
resources to medically dependent individuals, quality control, utilization
control and industry monitoring.

(iii) Children with physical disabilities services
programs.

(iv) Programs for the prevention and early detection
of an intellectual disability.

(d) Program planning, which shall include at least
the following:

(i) An organizational unit for comprehensive health
planning programs.

(ii) Program coordination, evaluation and
development.

(iii) Need determination programs.

(iv) Health information programs.

2. Include and administer, within the office of the
director, staff services, which shall include at a minimum budget preparation,
public information, appeals, hearings, legislative and federal government
liaison, grant development and management and departmental and interagency
coordination.

3. Make rules for the organization and proper and
efficient operation of the department.

4. Determine when a health care emergency or medical
emergency situation exists or occurs within this state that cannot be
satisfactorily controlled, corrected or treated by the health care delivery
systems and facilities available. When such a situation is
determined to exist, the director shall immediately report that situation to
the legislature and the governor. The report shall include
information on the scope of the emergency, recommendations for solution of the
emergency and estimates of costs involved.

5. Provide a system of unified and coordinated
health services and programs between this state and county governmental health
units at all levels of government.

6. Formulate policies, plans and programs to
effectuate the missions and purposes of the department.

7. Make contracts and incur obligations within the
general scope of the department's activities and operations subject to the
availability of monies.

8. Be designated as the single state agency for the
purposes of administering and in furtherance of each federally supported state
plan.

9. Provide information and advice on request by
local, state and federal agencies and by private citizens, business enterprises
and community organizations on matters within the scope of the department's
duties subject to the departmental rules and regulations on the confidentiality
of information.

10. Establish and maintain separate financial
accounts as required by federal law or regulations.

11. Advise with and make recommendations to the
governor and the legislature on all matters concerning the department's
objectives.

12. Take appropriate steps to reduce or contain
costs in the field of health services.

13. Encourage and assist in the adoption of
practical methods of improving systems of comprehensive planning, of program
planning, of priority setting and of allocating resources.

14. Encourage an effective use of available federal
resources in this state.

15. Research, recommend, advise and assist in the
establishment of community or area health facilities, both public and private,
and encourage the integration of planning, services and programs for the
development of the state's health delivery capability.

16. Promote the effective use of health manpower and
health facilities that provide health care for the citizens of this state.

17. Take appropriate steps to provide health care
services to the medically dependent citizens of this state.

18. Certify training on the nature of sudden infant
death syndrome, which shall include information on the investigation and
handling of cases involving sudden and unexplained infant death for use by law
enforcement officers as part of their basic training requirement.

19. Adopt protocols on the manner in which an
autopsy shall be conducted under section 11-597, subsection D in cases of
sudden and unexplained infant death.

20. Cooperate with the Arizona-Mexico
commission in the governor's office and with researchers at universities in
this state to collect data and conduct projects in the United States and Mexico
on issues that are within the scope of the department's duties and that relate
to quality of life, trade and economic development in this state in a manner
that will help the Arizona-Mexico commission to assess and enhance the
economic competitiveness of this state and of the Arizona-Mexico region.

21. Administer the federal family violence
prevention and services act grants, and the department is designated as this
state's recipient of federal family violence prevention and services act
grants.

22. Accept and spend private grants of monies, gifts
and devises for the purposes of methamphetamine education. The
department shall disburse these monies to local prosecutorial or law
enforcement agencies with existing programs, faith-based organizations
and nonprofit entities that are qualified under section 501(c)(3) of the United
States internal revenue code, including nonprofit entities providing services
to women with a history of dual diagnosis disorders, and that provide educational
programs on the repercussions of methamphetamine use.� State general fund
monies shall not be spent for the purposes of this paragraph.� If the director
does not receive sufficient monies from private sources to carry out the
purposes of this paragraph, the director shall not provide the educational
programs prescribed in this paragraph.� Grant monies received pursuant to this
paragraph are not lapsing and do not revert to the state general fund at the
close of the fiscal year.

23. Identify successful methamphetamine prevention
programs in other states that may be implemented in this state.

24. Pursuant to chapter 13, article 8 of this title,
coordinate all public health and risk assessment issues associated with a
chemical or other toxic fire event if a request for the event is received from
the incident commander, the emergency response commission or the department of
public safety and if funding is available.� Coordination of public health
issues shall include general environmental health consultation and risk
assessment services consistent with chapter 13, article 8 of this title and, in
consultation with the Arizona poison control system, informing the public as to
potential public health risks from the environmental exposure.� Pursuant to
chapter 13, article 8 of this title, the department of health services shall
also prepare a report, in consultation with appropriate state, federal and
local governmental agencies, that evaluates the public health risks from the
environmental exposure. The department of health services' report
shall include any department of environmental quality report and map of smoke
dispersion from the fire, the results of any environmental samples taken by the
department of environmental quality and the toxicological implications and
public health risks of the environmental exposure. The department of
health services shall consult with the Arizona poison control system regarding
toxicology issues and shall prepare and produce its report for the public as
soon as practicable after the event. The department of health
services shall not use any monies pursuant to section 49-282, subsection
E to implement this paragraph.

25. Consult, cooperate, collaborate and, if
necessary, enter into interagency agreements and memoranda of understanding
with the Arizona department of agriculture concerning its administration,
pursuant to title 3, chapter 3, article 4.1, of this state's authority under
the United States food and drug administration produce safety rule (21 Code of
Federal Regulations part 112) and any other federal produce safety regulation,
order or guideline or other requirement adopted pursuant to the FDA food safety
modernization act (P.L. 111-353; 21 United States Code sections 2201 through
2252).

26. Adopt rules pursuant to title 32, chapter 32,
article 5 prescribing the designated database information to be collected by
health profession regulatory boards for the health professionals workforce
database.

27. Establish and maintain a secure
method for receiving reports submitted pursuant to section 11-597,
SUBSECTION G and publish quarterly summaries of all reports received
pursuant to section 11-597, subsection G.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 3.
Legislative findings

A. The
legislature finds that:

1. Public health and safety
depend on full, honest and unimpeded reporting of findings relating to a cause
of death.

2. There have been increased
reports from medical professionals of abnormal blood clotting and other
anomalies that warrant further study and reporting.

3. Fear of retaliation,
reputational harm or regulatory sanctions may discourage a county medical
examiner, an alternate medical examiner or a forensic pathologist from making
good faith reports of findings in death investigations and autopsies.

4. The COVID-19
pandemic introduced widespread vaccination programs.� It is important to
monitor, report and analyze possible adverse effects of vaccines, including
adverse effects detected as part of a death investigation or autopsy.

5. A county medical
examiner, an alternate medical examiner or a forensic pathologist who conducts
death investigations and autopsies can detect anomalies and report public
health data.

6. This state has a
compelling interest in ensuring that no law, policy or workplace culture
prevents or discourages the transparent scientific and nonpolitical reporting
of medical and pathological information that is relevant to public health and
safety.

7. Legal protections are
necessary to encourage honest, good faith reporting without fear from the
county medical examiner, alternate medical examiner or forensic pathologist of
reprisal, censorship or disciplinary action.

B. The legislature intends
to do the following:

1. Create a legal safe
harbor for a county medical examiner, an alternate medical examiner or a
forensic pathologist who reports good faith pathological findings related to
suspected vaccine related effects.

2. Protect a county medical
examiner, an alternate medical examiner or a forensic pathologist from
professional or legal repercussions when the county medical examiner, alternate
medical examiner or forensic pathologist report findings that are relevant to
public health and safety.

3. Encourage transparent
and honest reporting of any anomalies found in the course of a death
investigation or autopsy.

4. Ensure that all death
investigation and autopsy reports are treated confidentially and seriously and
are provided to appropriate health authorities for evaluating public health
concerns.

5. Establish that there
will be no fear of retaliation, reputational harm or regulatory sanctions
against a county medical examiner, an alternate medical examiner or a forensic
pathologist who makes good faith death investigation reports or autopsy
reports.