Forensic Pathology News
Dr. Young will post links to news articles that interest him about
forensic pathology, medical examiners, coroners and death
investigation in this section.
Pathology in the News
- County Commissioners plan to discuss recent termination of former chief medical examiner
- On Jan. 21, 3News brought you the story of how Lyden allegedly ruled during an autopsy that the death of a Corpus Christi woman was caused by "blunt force injuries." This was later proven incorrect after a second autopsy was performed.
- Reported backlog at Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office brings practices into question
- An employee accused the office of improper practices and being understaffed.
- New York Medical Examiner Denies Report of Piling Bodies in Facilities Amid COVID Surge
- New York City's Chief Medical Examiner office is denying reports of backlogs within the office. In a conversation with Newsweek, a spokeswoman for the office denied a report from the New York Post that was published on Thursday. The Post claims that a backlog of deaths at the Chief Medical Examiner's office has resulted in hospitals having to deal with shifting dead patients around their facilities. When contacted by Newsweek about the story, the Chief Medical Examiner's Executive Director of Public Affairs Julie Bolcer disputed the claim, saying, "The medical examiner's office does not have any backlogs, and we don't have delays."
- Medical examiner rebuked for delay in Duluth murder trial
- In recent filings, St. Louis County prosecutor Vicky Wanta lamented the office's "lack of professionalism," while defense attorney Eric Olson cited a "disregard for the rights and interests of the parties affected by this case." Judge Theresa Neo on Jan. 14 responded by formally ordering the chief medical examiner, Dr. Andrew Baker, and his office to comply with the defense's request within a week.
- Medical examiner reports more than two decades of growth in two years due to pandemic
- Dr. Eric Pfeifer spoke to a state Senate appropriations subcommittee Wednesday. “This practice usually grows at 11% per decade, and in the last two years we’ve grown 25%. That’s really hurting us,” said Pfeifer.
Pathology Links
- ACCPE means Affirming the Consequent for Complex Past Events. It is The Sherlock Effect.
- Whenever an expert states the past events that occurred on the basis of looking only at the physical evidence without reference to eyewitness statements, he or she is Affirming the Consequent for Complex Past Events. This is not only logically invalid and unsound, it never works in practice, Sherlock Holmes, CSI and Bones notwithstanding. Whenever ACCPE is listed in my comments to a news article, recognize one more tragic example of how this fallacy can destroy lives. ACCPE can also be understood as "backward reasoning,""effect-to-cause reasoning," or "abductive inference."
- American Academy of Forensic Sciences
- ForensicScienceDegree.org
- For further information on forensic science.
- National Association of Medical Examiners