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Down a medical examiner, N.H. seeks outside help with autopsies
At a time when deaths by drug overdose and COVID-19 are rising in New Hampshire, the state has been down a medical examiner for more than a year, straining the office’s ability to investigate a range of deaths.
A contract up for a vote by the Executive Council this week would pay a New York doctor $18,000 to help with autopsies and other tasks in the state’s medical examiner’s office.
Right now, the state’s two full-time medical examiners are performing more than 500 autopsies per year. According to Attorney General John Formella, whose office oversees the medical examiner, accreditation standards dictate that number should be no higher than 250 autopsies.
The sole-source contract would pay Dr. Terra Cederroth for five days of work completed last month and to be on call for four more days of work in New Hampshire next week, including on cases involving suspicious deaths.
A contract up for a vote by the Executive Council this week would pay a New York doctor $18,000 to help with autopsies and other tasks in the state’s medical examiner’s office.
Right now, the state’s two full-time medical examiners are performing more than 500 autopsies per year. According to Attorney General John Formella, whose office oversees the medical examiner, accreditation standards dictate that number should be no higher than 250 autopsies.
The sole-source contract would pay Dr. Terra Cederroth for five days of work completed last month and to be on call for four more days of work in New Hampshire next week, including on cases involving suspicious deaths.
https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2021-12-06/nh-medical-examiner-autopsy-labor-shortage
Between overdoses, suicides, and COVID deaths, the system is overwhelmed. I wonder if other states are experiencing similar situations.