Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title VI Chapter 38
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 38, § 3 (2026)

Duty to report deaths; failure to report

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 3. It shall be the duty of any person having knowledge of a death which occurs under the circumstances enumerated in this paragraph immediately to notify the office of the chief medical examiner, or the medical examiner designated to the location where the death has occurred, of the known facts concerning the time, place, manner, circumstances and cause of such death:

(1) death where criminal violence appears to have taken place, regardless of the time interval between the incident and death, and regardless of whether such violence appears to have been the immediate cause of death, or a contributory factor thereto;

(2) death by accident or unintentional injury, regardless of time interval between the incident and death, and regardless of whether such injury appears to have been the immediate cause of death, or a contributory factor thereto;

(3) suicide, regardless of the time interval between the incident and death;

(4) death under suspicious or unusual circumstances;

(5) death following an unlawful abortion;

(6) death related to occupational illness or injury;

(7) death in custody, in any jail or correctional facility, or in any mental health or mental retardation institution;

(8) death where suspicion of abuse of a child, family or household member, older adult or person with a disability exists;

(9) death due to poison or acute or chronic use of drugs or alcohol;

(10) skeletal remains;

(11) death associated with diagnostic or therapeutic procedures;

(12) sudden death when the decedent was in apparent good health;

(13) death in any public or private conveyance;

(14) fetal death, as defined in section 202 of chapter 111, where the period of gestation has been 20 weeks or more or where fetal weight is 350 grams or more;

(15) death of children under the age of 18 years from any cause;

(16) any person found dead;

(17) death in an emergency treatment facility, medical walk-in center, child care center or under foster care; or

(18) deaths occurring under such other circumstances as the chief medical examiner shall prescribe in regulations promulgated pursuant to chapter 30A.

A physician, police officer, hospital administrator, licensed nurse, department of children and families social worker, or licensed funeral director, within the commonwealth, who, having knowledge of such an unreported death, fails to notify the office of the chief medical examiner of such death shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars. Such failure shall also be reported to the appropriate board of registration, where applicable.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1927–2025 · leading case: McGonagle v. United States, 155 F. Supp. 3d 130 (D. Mass. 2016).
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McGonagle v. United States, 155 F. Supp. 3d 130 (D. Mass. 2016). · cites it 3× “Statutory Duty to Report Plaintiffs further contend that Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 38, § 3 creates a statutory duty to report a death by apparent criminal violence.”
Macrelli v. Child.'s Hosp., 451 Mass. 690 (Mass. 2008). · cites it 4× “After the sudden death of an eighteen month old boy, doctors at Children’s Hospital (Children’s) performed an autopsy at the request of the office of the chief medical examiner (OCME) pursuant to G. L. c. 38, §§ 3 and 4. The hospital returned the child’s body to his parents, the…”
Amato v. Dist. Attorney for Cape & Islands Dist., 952 N.E.2d 400 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011). “Pursuant to G. L. c. 38, § 3(1) and (17), and G. L. c.”
LeBlanc v. Commonwealth, 457 Mass. 94 (Mass. 2010). ““If, as a result of such inquiry, the chief medical examiner or such designee is of the opinion that the death was due to violence or other unnatural means or to natural causes that require further investigation, he shall take jurisdiction.”
Graton v. City of Cambridge, 156 N.E. 431 (Mass. 1927). “G. L. c. 38, §§ 3, 4 (St. 1924, c. 404, § 7), Medical Examiners.”
LeBlanc v. Commonwealth, 914 N.E.2d 937 (Mass. App. Ct. 2009). “G. L. c. 38, §§ 3(2), 3(14), & 4. Upon taking jurisdiction over such a death, the OCME shall transport the body for investigation and possible autopsy.”
Commonwealth v. S. Ashley Ryan (Mass. Super. Ct. 2025). “(iii) physical dependence upon an addictive drug at birth”); G.L. c. 38, § 3 (person with knowledge must report to chief medical examiner’s office “death where suspicion of abuse of child” under subsection 8, and “fetal death” under subsection 14); G.”
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 38, § 3(1) — 1 case
Amato v. Dist. Attorney for Cape & Islands Dist., 952 N.E.2d 400 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011). “Pursuant to G. L. c. 38, § 3(1) and (17), and G. L. c.”
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 38, § 3(2) — 1 case
LeBlanc v. Commonwealth, 914 N.E.2d 937 (Mass. App. Ct. 2009). “G. L. c. 38, §§ 3(2), 3(14), & 4. Upon taking jurisdiction over such a death, the OCME shall transport the body for investigation and possible autopsy.”
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