Q. What is the Medical Examiner's Office?
A. The Medical Examiner's Officer determines the cause and manner of death pursuant to Florida Statute 406.
Q. What is a Medical Examiner?
A. A medical examiner is a doctor who has a medical degree and has specialized education and experience in the field of pathology and forensic pathology.
Q. What is a coroner?
A. A public officer whose primary function is to investigate, by inquest, any death thought to be of other than natural causes. A coroner does not have to be a doctor. In the state of Florida, we have a Medical Examiner system rather than a coroner system.
Q. What is an autopsy?
A. An autopsy is the postmortem (after death) examination of a body, including the internal organs and structures after dissection, so as to determine the cause of death or the nature of pathological changes.
Q. Which deaths come under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner?
A. In Florida Statute, Chapter 406.11, titled Examinations, Investigations, and Autopsies, it states, "In any of the following circumstances involving the death of a human being, the medical examiner of the district in which the death occurred or the body was found shall determine the cause of death and shall, for the purpose, make or have performed such examinations, investigations, and autopsies as he or she shall deem necessary or as shall be requested by the state attorney:
A. When a person dies in the state:
- of criminal violence,
- by accident,
- by suicide,
- suddenly, when in apparent good health,
- unattended by practicing physician or other recognized practitioner,
- in any prison or penal institution,
- in police custody,
- in any suspicious or unusual circumstances,
- by criminal abortion,
- by poison,
- by disease constituting a threat to public,
- by disease, injury, or toxic agent resulting from employment,
B. When a dead body is brought into the state without proper medical certification,
C. When a body is to be cremated, dissected, or buried at sea."
Q. Under what circumstances is an autopsy performed?
A. Autopsies will be performed when the death:
- is alleged or suspected to be by criminal violence;
- occurred while in police custody;
- occurred in any prison or penal institution;
- appears to have been by gunshot wound;
- is suspected to be as a result of poisoning;
- is suspected to be as a result of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome;
- appears to have been by suicide;
- or whenever requested or directed by the State Attorney under law
Autopsies are generally needed to complete the investigations of deaths:
- resulting from motor vehicle or aircraft accident;
- from a disease constituting a threat to the public health;
- by apparent drowning;
- in a state institution, otherwise by violence
Q. Does the Medical Examiner need authorization from the family to do an autopsy?
A. No.
Q. Is there a fee for an autopsy performed by a medical examiner?
A. No.
Q. How can I get a copy of an autopsy report and how long will it take?
A. A written request, including the name of the deceased and the date of death, is requested to be mailed, faxed or E-mailed to this office. The report, when complete, will be mailed only to the requester. If the case is a homicide or still under criminal active investigation, a report cannot be forwarded without permission of the investigating officer or State Attorney's office.
Q. How do I get a copy of the death certificate?
A. This office completes the medical information only. The funeral home completes the personal information and the death certificate is certified at the Office of Vital Statistics. Therefore, a certified copy of the death certificate may be obtained from the Office of Vital Statistics or the funeral home handling the arrangements. For more information, please call the following numbers:
- Orange County Vital Statistics
832 W. Central Blvd., Suite 305
Orlando, FL 32805
(407) 836-2600/7155
- Osceola County Vital Statistics
1875 Boggy Creek Rd.
Kissimmee, FL 34744
(407) 343-2009
Q. What does it mean when a case is 'Pending'?
A. Death certificates are placed in a pending status when laboratory studies or investigations are needed to determine the cause and manner of death. Unfortunately, a time frame cannot be established when cases will be un-pended. Each case is handled independently. Depending on circumstances, some cases can take twelve weeks to unpend.
Q. How long does a body remain at the Medical Examiner's facility?
A. The length of time that it takes to examine the body (or do an autopsy) and take physical evidence (i.e., fingerprints, etc.). Most bodies are released within 24 hours, depending on the time of death and complexity of the investigation or examination.
Q. How are personal effects handled?
A. Personal effects that are on or with the body when a M.E. investigator arrives at the scene or hospital are itemized on the Medical Examiner's Personal Effects form which is witnessed and signed for by hospital personnel or law enforcement. The items are then released to family as authorized. In cases of homicide or suicide, law enforcement will often keep all or some of the personal effects as evidence. Each case is handled on it own merits. Most often the personal effects are removed with the body to the Medical Examiner's office and then released to the funeral home along with the body.
Q. How do I donate organs?
A. Contact an organ procurement agency, such as Translife, Central Florida Lions Eye and Bank, Central Florida Tissue Bank, or a funeral home.
Q. What types of autopsies do the hospital pathologists perform?
A. When a person dies of natural causes in a hospital and does not come under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner, the family may give authorization for an autopsy. In this case, the hospital pathologists will perform the autopsy. There are other private organizations that also perform autopsies, usually on a fee basis.
Health Services Division 
