The US Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of The National Academies to conduct a workshop that would examine the interface of the medicolegal death investigation system and the criminal justice system. NIJ was particularly interested in a workshop in which speakers would highlight not only the status and needs of the medicolegal death investigation system as currently administered by medical examiners and coroners but also its potential to meet emerging issues facing contemporary society in America. Additionally, the workshop was to highlight priority areas for a potential IOM study on this topic. To achieve those goals, IOM constituted the Committee for the Workshop on the Medicolegal Death Investigation System, which developed a workshop that focused on the role of the medical examiner and coroner death investigation system and its promise for improving both the criminal justice system and the public health and health care systems, and their ability to respond to terrorist threats and events. Six panels were formed to highlight different aspects of the medicolegal death investigation system, including ways to improve it and expand it beyond its traditional response and meet growing demands and challenges. This report summarizes the Workshop presentations and discussions that followed them.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• COMMITTEE FOR THE WORKSHOP ON THE MEDICOLEGAL DEATH INVESTIGATION SYSTEM
• REVIEWERS
• PREFACE
• 1. INTRODUCTION
• 2. OPENING REMARKS
• 3. OVERVIEW OF THE MEDICOLEGAL DEATH INVESTIGATION SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES
  • Historical Origins
  • Current Distribution of Coroner and Medical Examiner Systems
  • System Variability
  • Major Issues Facing the Medicolegal Death Investigation System
• 4. INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRAINING
  • INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE MEDICAL EXAMINER SYSTEM
• 5. PROFESSIONALISM, STANDARDS, AND QUALITY
  • NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS ACCREDITATION OF MEDICAL EXAMINER OFFICES
• 6. COMPARING MEDICAL EXAMINER AND CORONER SYSTEMS
  • Advantages and Disadvantages of the Medical Examiner System
  • Advantages and Disadvantages of the Coroner System
  • Discussion
• 7. MEDICOLEGAL DEATH INVESTIGATION AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
  • THE VALUE OF MEDICAL EXPERTISE IN DEATH INVESTIGATION
  • DISCUSSION
• 8. MEDICOLEGAL DEATH INVESTIGATION, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND HEALTH CARE
  • THE USE OF MEDICAL EXAMINER AND CORONER DATA FOR PUBLIC HEALTH SURVEILLANCE
  • DISCUSSION
• 9. HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
  • THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS AND CORONERS IN RESPONDING TO AND PLANNING FOR BIOTERRORISM AND EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
• 10. CLOSING REMARKS
• REFERENCES
• APPENDIX A WORKSHOP AGENDA
• APPENDIX B PANEL MEMBERS AND INVITED SPEAKERS

Support for this project was provided by the Department of Justice. The views presented in this report are those of the WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS and are not necessarily those of the funding agency

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.