ABSTRACT
Another case scenario might help explain how private death investigations may occur. For the purposes of this chapter, let us consider the case of a man who comes home from work and finds his wife dead in a chair in the living room. His wife has had a history of severe high blood pressure. Because he is not sure that his wife is actually dead, he calls 911 and the emergency team responds. The police also respond to the 911 call, which is commonly the case. The emergency technicians determine that the woman is dead and do not transport her to the hospital. The policeman feels that he should report this death to the medical examiner because the death occurred outside of the hospital. The policeman calls the medical examiner, but the medical examiner asks a few questions and determines that there is no indication of foul play, there is no evidence of injury, and that the woman had a history of significant high blood pressure for many years and was on numerous blood pressure medications. Thus, the medical examiner declines to investigate the case. The woman has been seeing a private physician for a number of years and has been treated for high blood pressure by him, but she did not die in a hospital. Thus, there is no institution to perform an institution-based death investigation. The woman’s husband understands that she may have died of complications of her high blood pressure, but actually she had been feeling fairly well recently and he is curious about why she actually died. What can the husband do? Two options have been ruled out: the medical examiner has declined to investigate the case, and there is no institution to perform an investigation. The only remaining option is for the husband to make private arrangements for an autopsy and death investigation. On whom can he call?
