(a) This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Sudden, Unexplained Child Death Act.”

(b) The legislature finds and declares that:

(1) Protection of the health and welfare of the children of this state is a goal of its people and the unexpected death of a child is an important public health concern that requires legislative action;

(2) The parents, guardians, and other persons legally responsible for the care of a child who dies unexpectedly have a need to know the cause of death;

(3) Collecting accurate data on the cause and manner of unexpected deaths will better enable the state to protect children from preventable deaths, and thus will help reduce the incidence of such deaths; and

(4) Identifying persons responsible for abuse or neglect resulting in unexpected death will better enable the state to protect other children who may be under the care of the same persons, and thus will help reduce the incidence of such deaths.

(c) As used in this part and in § 68-3-502, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Certified child death pathologist” means a pathologist who is board certified or board eligible in forensic pathology, and who has received training in, and agrees to follow, the autopsy protocol, policies and guidelines for child death investigation, as prescribed by the chief medical examiner for the state of Tennessee;

(2) “Chief medical examiner” means the individual appointed pursuant to title 38, chapter 7; and

(3) “Sudden infant death syndrome” means the sudden death of an infant under one (1) year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history.