Here's Why Families Like Bob Saget's Sue to Block Autopsy Releases

Bob Saget's family has been granted a motion to temporarily block the release of further information about the beloved comedian's autopsy.

Saget, 65, was pronounced dead in his Orlando, Florida, hotel room on January 9. Last week, his family said in a statement that the star died after he "accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep."

An autopsy report by Dr. Joshua Stephany, the chief medical examiner of Orange and Osceola counties in Florida, was published by The New York Times on Friday. It detailed head trauma so serious that it was unlikely to have been shrugged off by Saget.

On Tuesday, Saget's widow, Kelly Rizzo, and his three daughters Aubrey, Lara and Jennifer, filed a lawsuit against Florida's District Nine Medical Examiner's Office and the Orange County Sheriff John Mina to block further details from being released.

That emergency motion was temporarily granted to Saget's family by Circuit Court Judge Vincent Chiu on Wednesday, prohibiting the defendants from releasing material from the star's death records, including photographs and audio recordings, according to People magazine.

Attorney Judd G. Rosen, of Miami law firm Goldberg and Rosen, told Newsweek that while the public could view the family's move as a bid to hide salacious secrets, it's likely nothing more than their wanting to protect his dignity.

"At this point, you have to respect the family's desire to keep everything private," Rosen explained. "And they could have endless reasons for wanting to keep it private ... The family does not need to give a reason for their desire to keep this information private."

Twenty-six states have statutes that directly address the disclosure of autopsy reports, "and Florida is not one of them," Rosen went on. "Florida Statute 119, which is our public document act, is the policy of the state of Florida that public records are open for public inspection ... However, a court can limit that access under certain circumstances."

When Saget's family filed to block the release of further details from the autopsy, they said the public unveiling of such information "would cause irreparable harm in the form of extreme mental pain, anguish, and emotional distress."

Matthew T. Gammons, partner at New York City law firm Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, told Newsweek that a full autopsy release means many private health matters that had nothing to do with Saget's death would enter the public domain.

"The autopsy goes through every single vital organ," Gammons said. "When I sometimes will ask for an autopsy report, sometimes they'll send me just a summary of it. And a summary can be four or five pages long."

A more detailed report, he said, can run in the range of 10 to 15 pages, "and they detail every single vital organ and element of it, whether it's related to [the death] or not. They're not just looking for the cause of death. They're evaluating everything they go through in an autopsy. They cover everything."

"So there could just be very personal details that have nothing to do with death or anything like that ... [The details] could be potentially embarrassing," said Gammons.

U.S. citizens are federally protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which shields individuals' personal health information from unwarranted public disclosure. But with a star of Saget's stature—and the public curiosity brought on by the seemingly mysterious circumstances surrounding his death—Rosen said it was a "savvy" move on the part of his family to prevent a further leak.

As the court makes a decision on whether to place a permanent injunction on the autopsy details, Rosen said it would be an "uphill battle" for anyone to legally gain access to "any photos, videos or audio associated with this death." An exception would be a civil suit or criminal investigation surrounding the circumstances of Saget's death.

Still, Gammons said it would be difficult to find a convincing countervailing argument against the injunction granted to Saget's family, mainly because there isn't a strong public interest argument in this instance.

"He's a public figure ... I understand that to some degree, but this is a private medical record," he said. "If that were the case, would we be able to get every actor's medical records on the basis that we should all know what's going on with them?"

Ultimately, said Rosen, Saget should be remembered for who he was, rather than how he died. "He was a hero to the American public. And I'm sure he was even more of a hero to his family."