Senior doctors are calling for human tissue to be routinely kept for genetic testing in cases where young people die without explanation.
They say the DNA from such samples may reveal an unsuspected inherited condition and save relatives' lives.
One doctor said pathologists should be encouraged to take the tissue and ask for consent later if necessary.
But the Human Tissue Authority said it was "alarmed" about public calls for practitioners to break the law.
The Human Tissue Act requires that appropriate consent is in place before the tissue is removed from a deceased person.
Dr Mary Sheppard, of the Royal Society of Medicine's pathology section and a leading expert on Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD), said some coroners did ask relatives already but others felt it was not part of their remit.
She said: "If coroners routinely requested consent from the family to retain material for DNA testing at autopsies we would be able to find out far more about how the person died and possibly prevent other deaths in the same family." - BBC
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