Office of Science and Technology Policy May 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The nation's approximately 2,400 medical examiner and coroner (ME/C) jurisdictions investigate nearly 500,000 deaths each year and perform post-mortem examinations and/or autopsies to determine the cause of death. While the function and organization of these offices vary by state, medical examiners and coroners typically investigate deaths that are sudden and unexpected, deaths that have no attending physician, and all suspicious and violent deaths. Strengthening the ME/ C system is critical for improving the accuracy and reliability of these death investigations and will benefit public health and safety programs, law enforcement investigations, and the development of interventions to prevent deaths nationwide. The National Science and Technology Council's Fast Track Action Committee on Strengthening the Medicolegal Death Investigation System was chartered in July 2015 to make strategic policy recommendations at the Federal level on how to address issues related to accessing and working with data generated by ME/C offices. Importantly, these policy recommendations will not only strengthen medicolegal death investigations, but would also enhance public health and the integrity of the criminal justice system, and further public health and medical research. The Committee is seeking input on a series of specific questions, as well as general feedback on the content of the report.