After Lawsuit By Alabama Inmates’ Families, UAB Ends Contract to Conduct State Prison Autopsies

ByBy Howard Koplowitz | hkoplowitz@al.com UAB Hospital’s pathology department will no longer be conducting the autopsies of dead state inmates after UAB severed its contract with the Alabama Department of Corrections, the hospital said Monday. UAB’s decision comes after the hospital was sued last month by the families of five dead state prison inmates who accused the state’s biggest hospital of stealing organs from inmates after conducting autopsies. “While the UAB Department of Pathology has been in compliance with laws governing autopsies to determine the cause of death of incarcerated individuals under the appropriate clinical standard – and a panel of medical ethicists reviewed and endorsed our protocols regarding autopsies conducted for incarcerated persons – we have terminated our contract with the Alabama Department of Corrections and no longer perform autopsies for ADOC,” the hospital said in a statement Monday to AL.com. “UAB has one of the highest ranked pathology programs in the country, is accredited by the College of American Pathologists and is staffed by credentialed physicians who are certified by the American Board of Pathology.” The hospital declined to comment beyond its statement. UAB’s decision comes after the hospital was sued last month by the families of five...