Abstract
The medicolegal death investigation system of the United States is undergoing a national review aimed at improving it. It currently is a mixture of medical examiner and coroner systems organized by state and county. There are 24 states with a chief medical examiner overseeing the death investigation system of the state. These chief medical examiners were surveyed to collect data on system strengths, weaknesses, improvement needs, annual autopsy numbers, and current staffing levels. A recent Scientific Working Group for Medicolegal Death Investigation report has recommended a targeted goal of one medicolegal autopsy per thousand population (or roughly 10% of all deaths). For the 24 states, approximately 155 additional forensic pathologists (each performing up to 250 autopsies per year) would be needed to conduct autopsies at a rate of one per thousand population per year. Only four of the 24 states have an adequate number of forensic pathologists.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.