Essay Sample on Coronial & Medicolegal Death Investigations

Introduction

The coroner system and medical examiners are systems which take the responsibility of conducting the medicolegal investigation regarding deaths. These kind of deaths are either suspicious, unusual, abrupt and unexplained, non-natural deaths, violent or those which pose a threat to the public health. The systems tend to be organized at the regional, county, or the national level depending on the laws which are set by a given state or country. The customs, statutes, precedents, and discretion of various investigation agencies determine the different types of deaths which occur in multiple states (Hanzlick, 2019). Due to numerous responsibilities which are associated with the different investigation systems, this paper will focus on the comparison between the medical examiner and coroner system as well as identifying the best system for the cause and manner of determining deaths.

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The coroner and medical examiner systems both perform the instigative duties regarding the subtypes of death. Also, they provide the records regarding the circumstances which might have led to fatalities among various persons. This helps people to know the cause of deaths through the conduction of investigations. These investigative systems provide the results of the laboratory tests and autopsies regarding the presence of drugs and alcohol from the still body. Both the medical examiners and coroners obtain detailed data about a mental health history or the suicide decedents' life occurrences since different types of deaths vary by jurisdiction (Kelsall & Bowes, 2016). Therefore, the duties of coroners and the medical examiners are closely related, thus promoting the investigative actions towards different types and causes of deaths in states.

The coroners and medical examiner are entitled to performing overlapping or similar roles, but they possess differences in their qualifications and training. In the past, the role of coroners was to ensure that appropriate taxes were paid to the crowner upon death in society. According to Kelsall & Bowes (2016), the current coroners determine the cause and type of death hence completing the death certificates. In the United States, coroners are usually elected, and they do or do not have any medical pieces of training. Also, the coroner might be appointed depending on the statutes and the roles which they possess. Therefore, coroners are not pathologists, and they work closely with the forensic pathologist for the medical expertise and autopsies thus supporting their investigations.

On the other hand, medical examiners are appointed to take their positions since they are trained as physicians and forensic pathologists. Since medical examiners are appropriately trained, they can conduct death investigations effectively without the help of other pathologists. The medical examiners are at a position of managing the medicolegal investigation offices, completing autopsies, interpreting the laboratory and toxicology tests, providing the expert testimonies among others (Hanzlick, 2019). Therefore, this system is termed to be a streamlined and modern strategy for investigating deaths in the United States.

Conclusion

Therefore, the best system for determining the causes and types of deaths in the United States is the medical examiner system since it utilizes the trained personnel's. The individuals who are usually appointed to conduct this task can interpret the tests which are obtained from the laboratories hence making people understand the cause of particular death. Also, with the medical examiners system, the state does not experience extra charges to pay for the pathologist as it is in the coroners' system since the medical examiner are trained pathologists.

References

Hanzlick, R., 2019. An Overview of Medical Examiner/Coroner Systems in the United States. Retrieved from https://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/pgasite/documents/webpage/pga_049924.pdf

Kelsall, D., & Bowes, M. J. (2016). No standards: the medicolegal investigation of deaths. Retrieved from https://www.nap.edu/read/10792/chapter/7