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Medicolegal Death Investigation System Workshop Summary (2003) / Chapter Skim
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10. Closing Remarks
Pages 61-64

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From page 61...
... Often overlooked is substantial public interest in public health and civil acljudication, notwithstanding the fact that civil disputes are often between private parties. One example is the use of autopsies as a means of documenting medical errors and of promoting quality and trust in medicine.
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From page 62...
... While this fraction was the focus of the workshop, it also must be pointed out that, in tile other 80 percent of deaths, the information is also deficient for purposes of compiling valid vital statistics. Further, how do we know that deaths are selected for the in-depth medicolegal death investigation?
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From page 63...
... What are the deficiencies in the ME/C system? To a varying extent, depending on jurisdiction, the major deficiencies are inadequate resources; inadequate expertise; imperfect legal structure; inadequate facilities; inadequate technical infrastructure especially for detecting infectious diseases and bioterrorism; inadequate training of the professional disciplines involved in death investigations; lack of practice standards and standardization of information; lack of quality measures and quality control mechanisms; lack of adequate access to and use of information technology and information systems to collect and retrieve data; and lack of research.
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From page 64...
... Speaker Victor Weedn captured it best by characterizing the entire death investigation system as a political orphan. The emerging emphasis on mass disasters and bioterrorism has illuminated longstanding neglect of death investigations by the federal government despite the broac!
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Key Terms

  • medical examiner
  • death investigation
  • substantial public
  • proper training
  • legal structure

  • death information
  • infectious diseases
  • political orphan
  • investigations throughout
  • retrieve data

  • leap forward
  • emerging emphasis
  • include manpower
  • infrastructure especially
  • capital investment

  • major leap
  • multiple county
  • coroner office
  • inadequate resources
  • detecting infectious

  • victim identification
  • promoting quality
  • effective death
  • manpower training
  • regards legal

  • affects business
  • funeral directors
  • lost ones
  • medicolegal death
  • whom publicity


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