Dr. Larry Tate, retired Forensic Pathologist, discussed autopsies and the importance of forensic pathology and death investigations. The lecture began with a brief history of the definitions of forensic and pathology, which date back to the time of Julius Caesar. Forensic is from the Roman word forum, and Pathology is “morbid anatomy.” Initially, death investigations were important because there was a fear of poisoning. They are still important today, and now there is a death certificate which is legally certified by a physician. There are three classifications of death; mechanism, cause, and manner.

Dr Tate discussing possible cause of death.

Death Investigation System involves a Coroner or a Medical Examiner, and originated in the 10th century in England. The United States has both coroners and medical examiners; each state is different. Ohio is a mixed system; most counties have coroners except for Summit County which has a medical examiner. Within the laws there is not a standard; each state has its own laws for death investigation. A coroner is an elected county official, often part-time, and often not medically trained. However, the Ohio Revised Code 313 states that the coroner needs to be a licensed physician. A medical examiner is appointed, is given jurisdiction (city, county, district, state, etc.), often full-time, medically trained, and often forensic pathologist (needs 5 years training after M.D. with 1 yr. of death investigation).

The duty of the coroner/medical examiner is to investigate death, determine cause, determine manner, complete the death certificate, and create the coroner’s report. The autopsy may be performed by the coroner, someone will be appointed. An autopsy is an examination of a human body externally and internally.