Conducting Medical Tests on a Corpse After It Has Expired
QUESTION
New York, NY
A not yet למעשה question: New York State requires that when hospital patients die with COVID-19 or influenza as a cause of death, the hospital must provide documentation of a nasopharyngeal swab from within the previous 14 days. If no qualifying test took place and there isn’t a swab collected before the patient died that can have additional testing done, the clinical team is instructed to swab the מת. Am I remembering correctly that this presents a halakhic problem? Should the family prevent this if they are able?