Autopsy

Q: What are the rules regarding autopsy?

A: Often autopsy is routine.  Medical examiners are accustomed (and need) to use the body for knowledge about the life and death.  Other times the body is used for experimentation.  The same holds true for medical students who learn about the human body from cadavers.  Still, other times the law demands an autopsy when there are questions about the cause of death.

The Jewish belief is that each person is created in the image of the Almighty.  That is why we strongly discourage any cutting of the body.  Unnecessary damage to a person living or dead is considered a sacrilege.

Life, however, always trumps death. Therefore if an organ can be used to ease the pain of an ailing patient, give relief from a ravaging disease, or especially save a life it is a mitzvah to help them.

Even in such pedestrian procedures as a corneal transplant we allow the cornea from a deceased person to be used in order to alleviate blindness. 

In the instance when the law demands that an autopsy has to be performed the organs are returned for proper burial.

There may be times when the person who died had a rare disorder and an autopsy might yield the key to unraveling the mystery of their ailment.  In a case where there is compelling evidence that an autopsy could reveal such a cure it may be allowed.