Cal. Penal Code § 11174.5 — Elder and Dependent Adult Death Review Teams

(a) Each county may establish an interagency elder and dependent adult death review team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing suspicious elder and dependent adult deaths and facilitating communication among persons who perform autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in elder and dependent adult abuse or neglect cases.

(b) Each county may develop a protocol that may be used as a guideline by persons performing autopsies on elders and dependent adults to assist coroners and other persons who perform autopsies in the identification of elder and dependent adult abuse or neglect, in the determination of whether elder or dependent adult abuse or neglect contributed to death or whether elder or dependent adult abuse or neglect had occurred prior to, but was not the actual cause of, death, and in the proper written reporting procedures for elder and dependent adult abuse or neglect, including the designation of the cause and mode of death.

(c) As used in this section, the term “dependent adult” has the same meaning as in Section 368, and applies regardless of whether the person lived independently.