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Ethical Decision-Making

Satisfactory Essays

a. Ethics and ethical decision making play a large role in the duties of the coroner, everything they can affects someone or something. The main ethic would be confidentiality; the only topics that are not confidential are cause and manner of death. Any other information can only be given to legal next of kin. For example, if the media call asking about a homicide the only information the office will release is the cause and manner of death. However, if the decedent’s next of kin calls we are able to release any and all information to them. The office is also based on deontological ethics, which is the position that judges the morality of an action based on rules. If a deputy ever questions the ethics of a situation each deputy is urged to …show more content…

During orientation week we are told countless times that any information in a case is confidential except for cause and manner of death. When we start our rotation on phones we have to make sure we verify that we are speaking to the next of kin. Sometimes families do not understand the difference between being family and next of kin so they will call in and say they are next of kin when they really are not. Relationships also tend to take a step up when someone died. For example, if you are the decedent’s fiancé you are now the wife or husband. Once you explain the different they normally understand the difference. However, I did have one family who did not understand the difference. Their brother passes in Marion County and the closest family member was the brother who lived in southern Indiana. He came into the office stating he was next of kin and he was told to come in and pick up property. He was not listed in the database as next of kin so I had to run through a list in order to find out who next of kin would be. The order of next of kin is wife or husband, children, parents, and then brothers or sisters. It turns out this man had a daughter but no one knew where she was. I had to explain to the family that we would have to try to make contact with the daughter and that if we could not contact her the decedent’s mother would be next of kin and she could come in to pick up property. After explaining it several times the brother finally understood the

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