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House Health Committee reports bill to identify SUDEP on death records
Summary
The House Health Committee unanimously reported House Bill 1442, which would require coroners and medical examiners to consider and record sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) during death investigations and on death certificates; an amendment broadened the requirement to investigations beyond autopsies.
The House Health Committee voted unanimously to report House Bill 1442, which directs coroners and medical examiners to consider sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, known as SUDEP, when investigating deaths and to record SUDEP on death certificates when appropriate.
The measure, sponsored by Representative Brett Borowski and co-prime Representative Flood, aims to improve tracking of SUDEP to support research and connect families with organizations that study and analyze SUDEP cases.
Committee staff summarized the bill and a technical amendment. Committee staff member Dylan said Amendment A00781 “requires coroners to check for SUDEP during investigations rather than solely at autopsies and makes other technical changes throughout.” The committee adopted the amendment without recorded opposition.
Representative Flood, a co-prime sponsor, told the committee her daughter Lauren died unexpectedly on Dec. 19, 2007. Flood said doctors concluded there had been no medication errors and that her daughter’s death certificate listed natural causes. Flood said she had not previously heard of SUDEP until after the autopsy and that the current practice can obscure opportunities to study SUDEP. “I had never heard of SUDEP before prior to Lauren's passing,” Flood said.
Representative Borowski described working with coroners to revise the bill and thanked them for their partnership. “We worked with the coroners, and I am thankful and grateful to them for their partnership with this legislation and the amendment that we have today,” Borowski said. Chair Frankel summarized the bill for the committee: “House Bill 1442 provides for the investigation of sudden unexpected death and epilepsy, also known as SUDEP.”
Supporters told the committee the bill would allow researchers and organizations to identify SUDEP cases more readily and apply for research funding tied to a more specific cause or manner of death. Chair Rapp and other members expressed support; no negative votes were recorded, and the committee reported the bill as amended.
The bill, as discussed, adds investigative steps for coroners and medical examiners and instructs that, when SUDEP is identified as the cause or manner of death, that finding be noted on the official death certificate. The committee record indicates the amendment was adopted and the measure was reported unanimously to the next legislative stage.
Next steps: reporting the bill from committee does not by itself change state law; the measure must proceed through further House and (if passed) Senate action before becoming law.
