Paying for autopsies

There appears to be some justification for the Cape Girardeau County Commission to ask Illinois counties to pay for autopsies when a victim is mortally injured in that state but dies in a Cape Girardeau hospital.

For some time, counties in Missouri have had agreements whereby the county where the injury -- automobile accident, shooting, stabbing and so forth -- occurs will take care of the autopsy even if the victim dies in another county.

This situation isn't all that uncommon, since Cape Girardeau has two large hospitals and since Saint Francis Medical Center now serves as this region's trauma center.

A recent letter, drafted by Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle on behalf of the county commission and sent to state attorneys in nearby Illinois counties, asks that those out-of-state counties handle autopsies the same way many Missouri counties do. The letter was not the first contact on this subject, County commissioners in Illinois had previously indicated they don't have the legal authority to pay for out-of-state autopsies.

To get a legislative remedy to this situation isn't all that simple. For one thing, not all coroners and medical examiners in Missouri agree on the best course of action. St. Louis County's medical examiner, for example, sees doing autopsies, no matter where a victim is from, as a needed service that shouldn't be the basis for interstate quarreling.

Cape Girardeau County currently spends about $10,000 a year on autopsies involving Illinois cases. It would like a simple agreement: We'll pay for our autopsies -- even if they are done in another county -- and we'd like you to do the same.

It sounds simple, but the implementation will likely require some negotiation and, perhaps, additional legislation in two states. That could be a process that takes time.