2011-05-12
I am reading the excellent Huntington Press publication, The First 100 -- Portraits of the Men and Women Who Shaped Las Vegas. While reading about Liberace and the cause of his death, it was touching to read that his family, his Las Vegas physician, and his Palm Springs physician all appeared to want Liberace to have a private and dignified closure to his life. It was very upsetting to read that before Liberace could be put to rest, his body was seized by the (then) Riverside County Coroner and autopsied, after which he told the world that Liberace had been carrying the HIV virus. Was this coroner obligated by law to autopsy the body? And if an autopsy was mandatory, did the results have to be shared with the world or could discretion have been used? It appears more like someone just wanted their 15 minutes of fame and didn't care how much damage they caused in the process of achieving that goal. If the coroner did act outside the boundaries of his position, did the family take any action against him for, at the very least, invasion of privacy? Every detail of someone's life does not have to be advertised to the world.