Census and Surveillance Efforts in the Medicolegal Death Investigation System

Census and Surveillance Efforts: Insight into the U.S. Medicolegal Death Investigation System Presenters: Dr. Jeri Ropero-Miller & Dr. Hope Smiley-McDonald In 2015, nearly 2.5 million people died in the United States. Of these, about one million were referred to the nation’s medical examiner and coroner offices (MECs), which accepted about half of these cases. MEC caseloads are at all-time high because many of these deaths require a complex, in-depth investigation. Drug overdose deaths require significant resources to investigate, and the exponential escalation of drug related deaths in the United States have led to national efforts to implement more effective and timely awareness of the epidemiology, drug statistics, and unprecedented challenges that burden the medical examiner and coroner community.

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence in July 2018.