What Is A Medical Examiner's Case

What Is A Medical Examiner's Case?

Mississippi Statutes require that any DEATH AFFECTING THE PUBLIC INTEREST be reported to the Medical Examiner of the County in which the death occured. In all such cases any person who willfully moves, disturbs, conceals, embalms, buries or cremates a body or part of a body of a decedent may be charged with a misdemeanor and may be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars($500.00) and/or by imprisonment for not more than six(6) months in the county jail. Reportable cases is defined in the State Statute under 41-61-59 and disposition of body without permission of Medical Examiner can be found in the State Statute under 41-61-69.

A DEATH AFFECTING THE PUBLIC INTEREST INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:

NON-NATURAL - Any death known or suspected to be due to other than natural causes. This includes all homicides, suicides and accidents. All such deaths must be reported even though natural causes for death may also be present or may be considered to be a contributory factor. All such deaths should be reported regardless of the survival interval between the death and the incident which ultimately resulted in death (example: if an individual dies from pneumonia as a complication of gunshot wound six months after the wound was inflicted, the death must be reported).

VIOLENT - Any death resulting from wounds, trauma or injuries caused by any sort of extrinsic or external agent. This includes all deaths caused by heat or cold, deaths due to chemical, electrical or radiation injury, deaths due to drowning, suffocation or choking and deaths caused by animals or by any poisonous substances including plants. All such deaths should be reported regardless of the survival interval between the trauma and the death...(example: if an individual dies from pulmonary embolism after one week of hospitalization due to injuries suffered in an automobile accident, the death should be reported).

UNEXPECTED/UNEXPLAINED - Any death occuring suddenly and unexpectedly or from an unexplained cause. This includes deaths of individuals who are found dead without obvious cause, and medically unexpected deaths which occur during the course of medical treatment or during the course of medical therapeutic or diagnostic procedures. Deaths due to obvious natural causes, wherein the precise medical or biological mechanisms are unclear, need to be reported. Deaths related directly to previously diagnosed infectious diseases need not be reported, unless they fall under one of the other listed categories.

UNATTENDED - Any death of a person who is found dead without documentation of a physician in attendance within thirty-six(36) hours preceding death. "In attendance" may include telephone consultation or prescriptions within thirty-six(36) hours preceding death. If a decedent has been previously diagnosed as suffering from terminal illness and a physician has been in attendance within thirty(30) days preceding death, the death need not be reported unless it falls under one of the other listed categories.

UNIDENTIFIED - Death of a person where the identity of the deceased is unkown.

UNCLAIMED - Death of a person where the body is not claimed by a relative or a friend.

INFANT - Any fetal deaths due directly to injuries of the fetus or indirectly to injuries of the mother, including all fetal deaths falling under any other listed category. This includes deaths caused by criminal abortion(even when abortion is self-induced), or abortion related to sexual abuse. "Fetal Death" is defined as death of a fetus of twenty(20) completed weeks of gestation or more, calculated from the date of the last normal menstrual period, or death of a fetus weighing 350 grams or more.

CHILD - Death of a child under the age of (2) years where death results from an unknown cause or where the circumstances surrounding the death indicate that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS) may be the cause of death. It is mandatory to have an autopsy performed on this type of death.

PRISONER - Any death of a person confined in a prison, jail or correctional institute. If the death is that of a prisoner in the custody of the Mississippi State Correctional System an autopsy performed under the supervision of the State Medical Examiner is mandatory. In any case where a person is found dead on the premises of the Correction System an investigation by the State Medical Examiner is mandatory.

OUT OF STATE -Any death where a body is brought into this state for disposal and there is reason to believe either that a death was not investigated properly or that there is not an adequate Certificate of Death.

EMERGENCY ROOM - Any death of a person who is presented to a hospital emergency room unconscious and/or unable to communicate coherently, and dies within twenty-four(24) hours without regaining consciousness or the ability to communicate coherently, unless a physician was in attendance within thirty-six(36) hours preceding presentation to the hospital. "In attendance" includes telephone consultations or prescriptions. If the decedent had a pre-diagnosed terminal illness and a physician was in attendance within thirty(30) days of preceding presentation to the hospital, the death need not be reported.

Questions arise in deaths of an individual shortly after their presentation to an emergency room or hospital. This "overlap" or "grey zone" may be handled in the following mannger:

If the attending physician was able to obtain the history from the patient, or otherwise make a diagnosis of natural disease which would explain death, and if the circumstances and cause of death do not otherwise fall under the Medical Examiner's jurisdiction, then the Medical Examiner need not be involved. Individuals considered DOA should be considered as sudden and unattended deaths and should be reported to the Medical Examiner. If the attending physician is not available for certification of death, i.e., signing the Death Certificate, an associate physician covering for the attending physician's practice and patients may sign the Death Certificate when he/she has access to the medical history of the case, provided he/she views the deceased at the time of death occurs or after the death has occured and the death does not otherwise qualify as Medical Examiner's case. In all other cases the death should be considered as sudden and unattended deaths and should be reported to the County Medical Examiner.

When in doubt, the Medical Examiner should always be notified. The Medical Examiner can always review the circumstances and judge whether or not to accept jurisdiction.

QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPORTABLE DEATHS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER OR THE OFFICE OF THE STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER