§ 20-212 — Embalming, care and disposal of bodies restricted.

No person, except a licensed embalmer, shall inject any fluid or substance into any dead human body, except that a registered apprentice embalmer may, even if not in the presence of a licensed embalmer, make such injection or perform any other act under such licensed embalmer's instruction; and no person, firm or corporation shall enter, engage in, carry on or manage for another the business of caring for, preserving or disposing of dead human bodies until each person, firm or corporation so engaged has obtained from the Department of Public Health and holds a license as provided in this chapter; nor shall any person be employed to remove a dead human body, except a licensed embalmer, a registered apprentice embalmer, a licensed funeral director, or a person authorized in each instance by the Chief Medical Examiner, Deputy Medical Examiner or assistant medical examiner incidental to examining the body of a deceased person, except that once a dead human body has been prepared in accordance with the regulations of Connecticut state agencies and the applicable provisions of the general statutes, an embalmer or funeral director licensed in this state may authorize an unlicensed employee to transport such body. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any person licensed as an embalmer or as a funeral director under the laws of another state from bringing into or removing from this state a dead human body, provided any and all other laws of this state relative to such body have been complied with. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit any student who is enrolled in a program of education in mortuary science, approved by the board, with the consent of the Commissioner of Public Health, from embalming up to ten human bodies under the supervision of a licensed embalmer and incidental to such student's course of study. Such embalming shall be counted toward the embalming requirement outlined in section 20-213 when such student becomes a registered apprentice embalmer. See Sec. 53-331 prohibiting use of arsenic in embalming.

Legislative History

(1949 Rev., S. 4530; 1951, S. 2251d; 1969, P.A. 27; 699, S. 28; P.A. 80-484, S. 155, 176; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 04-255, S. 24; P.A. 21-121, S. 13.) History: 1969 acts specified that removal of body by person authorized by medical examiners be in connection with examination of body and added exception governing removal of bodies by nonlicensed employees of embalmers or funeral directors and listed specific titles of medical examiners; P.A. 80-484 replaced board with department of health services as licensing authority; P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 04-255 changed “nonlicensed employee” to “unlicensed employee” and “remove” to “transport”, and deleted reference to repealed Sec. 7-70; P.A. 21-121 replaced references to registered student embalmer with references to registered apprentice embalmer, replaced “Public Health Code” with “regulations of Connecticut state agencies”, and added provision re embalming incidental to a student's course of study and the embalming requirement outlined in Sec. 20-213 and made a technical change.