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Medical Examiners and Coroners

MTF’s Medical Examiner/Coroner Advisory Committee

Welcome to the resource page developed by the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation’s Medical Examiner and Coroner Advisory Committee (MECC). The MTF MECC has been in existence since October 2006 and this page was established as a conduit of information and resources for those in the Medicolegal community, the tissue banking community, and organ procurement organizations (OPOs).

Committee Members:

	Kim A. Collins, MD – Co-Chair Forensic Pathologist Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office Atlanta, Georgia
	Ellen Moffatt, MD – Co-Chair Assistant Medical Examiner Office of the Chief Medical Examiner San Francisco, California
	Mary H. Dudley, MD – Chair Emeritus Chief Medical Examiner Office of the Jackson County Medical Examiner Kansas City, Missouri
	Karen Baier, MT (ASCP) Director of Tissue Services Midwest Transplant Network Westwood, KS
	Mike Burakowski, D-ABMDI Medical Examiner/Funeral Director Liaison LifeSource Organ and Tissue Donation St. Paul, MN
	Carolyn Green Lee County Coroner Tupelo, Mississippi
	Philip Keen, MD, FASCP, FCAP Medical Director, Tissue Services Donor Network of Arizona
	Walter L. Kemp, MD Deputy State Medical Examiner Montana State Department of Justice, Forensic Science Division Missoula, MT
	Owen Middleton, MD         Assistant Medical Examiner          Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office Minneapolis, MN
	Keith Pinckard, MD, PhD                                               Medical Examiner Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences                             Dallas, TX
	Christina W. Strong, Esq. Law Office of Christina Woodward Strong
	Jack M. Titus, MD Deputy Chief Medical Examiner OCME: State of Maryland Baltimore, MD

 

Documents and Resources

Medical Examiner/Coroner Fact Sheet: A new resource for you. It's a short reference on vital facts about tissue donation to assist medicolegal professionals. Click here.

MECC Position Statement on the Timely Acquisition of Autopsy Findings After Tissue/Organ Donation
    View the Position Statement
    View the N.A.M.E. Forensic Autopsy Performance Standards

MTF Autopsy Release Form
If you are from a tissue bank or OPO and have made repeated, documented attempts to obtain an autopsy report from a medical examiner and have been refused, here is a one page MTF document that your organization can submit to us after completion by the pathologist.
    MTF Autopsy Release Form

National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME)
The MTF Medical Examiner/Coroner Advisory Committee supports the position of the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) regarding the procurement of tissues and organs for transplantation. This position is that tissue/organ donation can be accomplished in virtually all cases without detriment to evidence collection, postmortem examination, determination of cause and manner of death, or the conduction of criminal or civil legal proceedings.
    N.A.M.E. Position Paper on the Medical Examiner Release of Organs and Tissues for Transplantation
    N.A.M.E. Homepage

For additional Information about forensic medicine, pathology and medicolegal death investigation, please visit:
    American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI)
    College of American Pathologists
    The Forensic Medical Investigation Institute (FMII)

Offers a comprehensive, current and fast-track forensic training course and skills workshop to gain forensic knowledge and improve working relationships with medical examiners, coroners and death investigators. Check this link often for the latest workshop dates:
    Detective Murphy

Offers an opportunity for those interested to practice your investigation skills by reviewing evidence, interviews and case details. New cases posted regularly.
    WebMD Primer on Post Mortem Changes

United Network for Organ Sharing
The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) has published an excellent and thorough resource entitled “Death Investigation and Organ and Tissue Donation: A Resource for Organ and Tissue Recovery Agencies, Medical Examiners and Coroners.” If you are interested in ordering a copy, this must be done directly through UNOS.
Click here to order a copy.

If you have a problem opening this link, you can try visiting UNOS’ online store by visiting http://store.unos.org

Death Investigation and Organ and Tissue Donation — A Resource for Organ and Tissue Recovery Agencies, Medical Examiners, and Coroners. Reference provided by UNOS and hosted on the Health Resources and Services Administration web site. Click here.

National Donor Family Council Resource Page
National Donor Family Council

College of American Pathologists
The College of American Pathologists has published its position on donation, which can be found here.

Presentation given at 2012 Annual Meeting of the National Association of Medical Examiners, Baltimore, MD
Presented by and shared with the permission of Dr. Walter M. Kemp, Deputy State Medical Examiner, Montana State Forensic Science Division
Title: Tissue Transplant: A simple call to start but a much more complex task to complete

 

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