Post Mortem. Who Does The Autopsy? (Video)

I was watching a Frontline video about Corners and Medical Examiners, and I didn't know there was a difference. I assumed that anyone that had to do an autopsy HAD to have a medical background, and experience. Apparently this is false!

PLEASE!! If you have the time, watch the VIDEO! Any or most debates on this issue can be clarified by WATCHING THE VIDEO! It has times, dates, places, and names. I cannot stress this enough!!
The video below is called Post Mortem Death Investigation in America.
www.pbs.org...

Here is a bit of background on both coroner and medical examiner.

Coroner

* Origin: England, 12th century; brought to North America in the 1600s
* In Britain, either elected or appointed by the Crown, until 1888, when it was made appointive by local council. In the United States, an elected local official; runs for office, often as a member of a political party
* Term of office (in the U.S.): two to four years
* Qualifications: Citizenship, residence; no medical training required
* Duties: To convene an inquest or inquisition with a jury, to investigate the death of a person
o that occurred due to criminal violence, poisoning, suicide, accident, negligence, disease constituting a public health threat, or
o that occurred unexpectedly, in suspicious circumstances, or
o that occurred while that person was in government custody, undergoing a medical procedure, or unattended by a physician, or
o whose body is to be cremated, dissected, or buried at sea


Medical examiner

* Origin: France and Scotland; brought to the United States in the late 1800s
* Appointed local or state official; expected to be nonpartisan
* Term of office: Serves continuously; can only be removed for cause
* Qualifications: Medical degree, with training and certification in forensic pathology
* Duties: To officially investigate the death of a person
o that occurred due to criminal violence, poisoning, suicide, accident, negligence, or disease constituting a public health threat, or
o that occurred unexpectedly, in suspicious circumstances, or
o that occurred while that person was in government custody, undergoing a medical procedure, or unattended by a physician, or
o whose body is to be cremated, dissected, or buried at sea

www.nlm.nih.gov...

I feel this is a very serious issue as there are people that are offering their opinion in suicides/murders/accidental deaths/etc,. and they have no medical expertise. In the video above there is a coroner that has been fired and rehired all over the US, and has and is currently employed in the US. He has made mistakes, and even been caught on video admitting not being sure about his finding in a case over a death of a women who's husband said she accidentally drowned, but the coroner says "murder".

These individuals are elected officials, and one man was even a coroner for 40+ years, and was legally blind. This is a very large concern for those that lose families members, including the elderly in homes, and small children, that are over looked. For every mistake that is made their is either someone going to jail for a crime they didn't commit, or a murderer on the lose due to murder being wrongfully diagnosed.

I was completely appalled by what I saw and heard, and after ward called my county to find out if there was a medical examiner in my area, in case of an incident, and there is not, only a coroner. I made others that I know aware, as there is nothing that can be done about this, except alert those that would know of your surroundings, or even be able to make a complaint about things that just dont seem right on your behalf in case you are unable to do so.

I would like others opinions on this.
Peace, NRE.

A public official charged with investigating all sudden, suspicious, unexplained, or unnatural deaths within the area of his or her appointed jurisdiction. A medical examiner differs from a Coroner in that a medical examiner is a physician. Medical examiners have replaced coroners in most states and jurisdictions.

Medical examiners determine such things as the positive identification of a corpse, the time of death, whether death occurred at the location where the corpse was found, and the manner and cause of death. They conduct autopsies and other medical tests to determine any or all of the details of death. They often work in conjunction with a legal team, such as a state prosecutor's office, and will testify at trial as to their findings and determinations. In that regard, a medical examiner's testimony is that of an expert witness, subject to cross-examination by counsel or refutation by the testimony of other expert witnesses.


legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com...

reply to post by Neopan100


That is what the thread is about. I was pointing out that they do the same job except one is an actual person who went to medical school, and the other one, can make an analysis, by just be elected into office.

Peace, NRE.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


Great find, chilling though. I worked in the funeral industry a few years back. I was disgusted at how much of a money maker it was and eventually tried to get on with the medical examiner. I found out that I would have to be enrolled in a particular university ( which i can understand) but i would also have to be nominated in. I had to take a serious look at my ethics at that point. Face it, how many people want to work in jobs like that, realisticallynot many. So it made me wonder what was all the red tape really for. This is besides the fact that rumors were that students were doing all the autopsies anyways and doing a craptacular job at it too. Very sad because not many people even want to think about death in the first place.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


They don't do the same job. A Medical Examiner works primarily in a morgue performing medical disection and pathology.

A coroner works in a capacity between the ME and the courts, like an advocate for the deceased.

reply to post by apocalypticangel


I figure that the red tape is so that they cannot be sued. I know that if I was an elected official, that was hired to sit behind a desk that I would not be ok with doing autopsies of any kind. The claim in most states is that not enough people are going to school for this and the pay isn't that great, plus the conditions of places where they are done are horrific.

I wanted to make others aware of this, as there are some that suspect foul play in some cases, but dont realize that they have the right to ask who is doing the autopsy and even request that someone else do this, and have a case either reopened, or reexamined.

There are also cases discussed in the video of elderly that were murdered by employees, and over looked as natural causes due to their ages. There has to be a point where people have to look further into things as I did, due to me not having the slightest clue about any of this before.

Peace, NRE.

I agree and thank you for digging deeper on the issue. I always appreciate when women are the ones asking leading questions. And youre right, there are not a lot of people going to school for this. It isnt a money maker and the conditions are not ideal. However i know i was in the field for one reason and that was to help families of the deceassed. I am sickened that i had to walk away because my morals were more alighned with truth and honesty than of those in charge. This is a position that needs to be filled with a degree carying, experienced, respectful and respectable morally sound person. Thank you for this thread.