Research Library

The authors urge consideration of issues such as consent, confidentiality and return of results to ensure that the benefits of postmortem genetic testing are maximized and the harms are minimized.

The "molecular autopsy," or the collection of blood and tissue for DNA analysis, is an increasingly pervasive tool in investigating sudden death in the young. The authors offer recommendations that address ethical and policy issues that arise when molecular autopsies are conducted as part of a death investigation by medical examiner or coroner offices.