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Senators hear bill to require microscopic, toxicology and immunization review in sudden child deaths
Summary
SB 546 would require coroners and medical examiners to include microscopic and toxicology studies and review immunization and medical records (including immunizations in prior 90 days) in investigations of unexpected or unexplained deaths of infants and children up to age 7; sponsors and outside witnesses urged expanded data collection and consistency across counties.
Senate Bill 546 (LC 640005), introduced by Senator Brett Williams, would require that coroner and medical examiner inquiries into unexpected or unexplained deaths of infants and children include microscopic and toxicology studies and a review of the child’s immunization and medical records for the prior 90 days. "We just want to make sure that the vaccine schedule is given," Senator Williams said, describing the bill as a way to standardize investigations and improve data collection.
Williams framed the bill with a recounting of an infant death and cited VAERS (the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) as an existing reporting mechanism. He and supporting witnesses argued that microscopic review and toxicology can reveal causes—myocarditis, metabolic disease, poisoning or subtle pathology—that are not apparent without additional testing.
Several written statements were submitted and summarized for the committee. Julie Allen delivered statements gathered from advocacy groups and others who supported broader record review; she read summaries of analyses that reported clusters of infant deaths reported after vaccinations and urged more complete investigations to establish patterns.
Expert statements submitted for the record (including a summary from Dr. Ryan Cole) argued for statewide minimum standards to reduce local variation in medico-legal death investigations and to ensure rural counties receive comparable review. Committee members raised concerns about medical examiner capacity, GBI turnaround times for toxicology, and the logistical burden on smaller jurisdictions; senators discussed routing cases to GBI when local offices lack capability.
Committee members clarified statutory definitions (the bill defines infant/child as birth to age 7) and confirmed that parents cannot legally refuse the statutorily required coroner/medical examiner inquiry for unexplained deaths. The subcommittee received testimony and written statements but did not take a final vote; members said they would continue examining capacity and potential federal grant support for expanded testing.
