Existing law requires a county coroner to inquire into and determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of certain deaths. Existing law either requires or authorizes a county coroner, under certain circumstances, to perform, or cause to be performed, an autopsy on a decedent. Existing law imposes certain requirements on a coroner conducting a postmortem examination or autopsy on an unidentified body or human remains. Existing law requires a coroner to investigate deaths that occurred under specified conditions, including without medical attendance, to ascertain as many of the facts as possible.

This bill would authorize a coroner to test the bodily fluid of a deceased person for the presence of xylazine if the coroner reasonably suspects the person died from an accidental or intentional opioid overdose or if the person was administered an overdose intervention drug prior to death and was unresponsive to the drug. If the testing is conducted, the bill would require the coroner to report a positive result to the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program and provide the State Department of Public Health with a quarterly report on positive results, as specified. The bill would require the department to post specified information, including, among other things, the total number of xylazine-positive results reported to the department, on the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard located on the department’s internet website.