Q&A Part 7
There was a road traffic accident, where the passenger was killed but the driver survived. At the Coroner’s Inquest, the blood test of the fatality was revealed but the drivers was not. What are the reasons that the drivers blood test would Not be revealed?
This happened because the driver is not dead. An inquest is to determine the manner and cause of death of the decedent. Nothing else. It is not a trial. If the driver was intoxicated, he/she could be charged with reckless homicide – which would be determined at trial – and the driver’s blood alcohol content would be revealed.
I am wondering if you can answer a question for me. If a person was in medical distress for fifteen minutes from a ligature, would they still be alive? How long before oxygen levels fall below normal range?
The circumstances here are WAY too vague for me to answer. What I can answer is that with full blockage of the carotid artery and jugular vein, unconsciousness can happen in as little as 7 seconds. It only takes 4 pounds of pressure to completely occlude the jugular vein and 11 pounds of pressure to occlude the carotid artery – so, not much at all.
I just lost my niece they did an autopsy and cut her arms why would they do that. We still have a long time until we get the report back. Can you help answer this question for our family?
Sorry to answer your question with more questions, but I would like to help if I am able.
1) What is your niece’s age? Babies and children often have their arms opened looking for signs of abuse.
2) What were the circumstances surrounding her death? A car accident for instance may result in injuries in the arm which would be explored and noted.
3) Are you sure they were cut at the autopsy? The family may have consented for tissue donation in which case the long bones of the arms would be removed.
Someone I know committed suicide by gunshot while in a car. A year later they found his body. His family wanted to hold a private viewing and funeral for him. My question is, does the coroner collect the body? How does one transport the body of the deceased? I’m guessing it would be a closed casket funeral.
So, my answers will be generalized for how it would occur in my jurisdiction. I’m not sure where you are located which means the approach may be different.
A bloated body is ideally wrapped in a sheet and placed in a body bag and transported like normal. There is no ‘deflating’ of the body….sometimes gasses will escape when we make an incision at the autopsy, but that wouldn’t happen at the scene.
I’m a firefighter of10 years. Recently we were involved in extracting the body from a car that had hit a semi truck head on. There was severe trauma to the head and torso, deformation of the face and lower abdomen was cut almost in half. (I’ll leave the rest up to imagination.) However, there was no blood present. I’ve seen more from a small cut out of the many accidents we respond to. I found this odd. Can you help explain the lack of blood present?
My initial thought is that the person died first. Maybe a cardiac episode which caused the person to lose control of the vehicle?
My bother friend was found dead. He was not heard from or seen the night before. When found him, he had foam cone, but looks like he didn’t suffer. He was 38 years old. He had sleep apnea and high cholesterol. Autopsy came back unfounded.. what do you think the reason was?
Opiate intoxication is what I believe given the brief information provided. Autopsy would be unfounded. Toxicology would provide all the answers.
Hello! If a death certificate says cause of death is ‘ligature strangulation’, is this suicide?
Not necessarily. The death certificate should also indicate the manner as suicide or accident or homicide.
My son died unexpectedly and was not found for approximately 5 days. He was on several medications for anxiety and insomnia. Latuda 80mg/day, Lamictal 150mg/day, trazadone 300mg/day, ambien 10mg/day. He also took otc Benadryl. His cause of death was multiple drug toxicity however the lab report shows normal levels and some alcohol but coroner said alcohol was not a contributing factor. No other drugs were positive.
I don’t know what to think. Report says he had blisters and skin sloughing. I assume this is part of decomposing but my personal doctor suggested possible Steven Johnson syndrome. Lamictal was not a new drug but caused the most side affects: Tremors, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, insomnia. He tried seroquel years ago with a different physician and it gave him a bad rash from head to feet.
I’m sorry about your son. Are you sure the lab report shows normal levels? Lab reports are usually in ng/mL which is not a direct comparison to what you would expect when looking at the levels. Ask for a copy of the toxicology report and contact the toxicologist who read the report…they can explain the levels and how the interaction of the medications at those levels resulted in what the pathologist determined to be multi-drug toxicity.
If an autopsy said a 38 year old female, with no presentation of symptoms died of hemorrhagic enteritis of the small bowel, would she also have unequal pressures in her eyes, and frothy blood in her lungs?
My answer is simply that unequal pressure in the eyes and frothy blood in the lungs could all be post mortem results of positioning. So, if she was found face down or on her side, one eye may be larger and more swelled than the other. We often see frothy blood that expels from the lungs in a sudden death. Those things aren’t unusual.
Just lost a 10 month old nephew unexpectedly. He was happy and healthy. Mom has told different stories as well. His autopsy was performed today and apparently we won’t know anything for 2 months. They are also sending the baby’s brain for further investigation. So does that mean SIDS is ruled out?
SIDS is a diagnosis of exclusion – and very rarely used. It sounds as if they are being very thorough in trying to determine your nephew’s cause of death. I’m sorry for your family’s loss. Let the process take place though – the results will be worth knowing. Be prepared though for an unexpected result….’unsafe sleep practices’ or something depending on the situation. You weren’t able to give the exact circumstances of the death, so I’m just giving an example.
My granddaughter was stillborn at 31.6 weeks and I just received the final report of her autopsy, cause of death says Pericardial, peritoneal and bilateral pleural effusion may play a role in this fetal demise. What does that mean? How did she die? What caused it?
It simply is a build up of fluid in the heart, lungs and abdominal cavity. It is suggesting that the body may have not been working to process fluids appropriately and may have contributed to the fetal demise. I’m so sorry – such a sad situation.
How long does DNA in sperm remain on clothing? Can DNA be extracted from a sperm stained pant?
So much depends on the condition of the sample. Have the pants been washed/dried? Have they been kept in a bag or something where the sample would be ideally preserved? If DNA is on the pants, it can be found in most circumstances.
My step father hung himself by using an extension cable to dangle from the kitchen door. We were told by the coroner that we were not able to see the body as it was ‘unviewable’. But my mother said when she found him dead, and took the cable from around his neck, he was ok looking, just had blood coming from his nose and was cold. Any info on this would be great as we don’t really know why.
Honestly, I’m not sure and the only thing I can think of is that some people aren’t comfortable with preparing a body for a viewing. I always explain to families that we are not a funeral home and we are limited in what we can do to prepare the body. I also explain what they will see (tongue may be protruding, face swollen, visible injuries, etc.) Although, I can’t say for sure, I’m inclined to think the coroner was simply not comfortable with it. I’m sorry.
First off, I’ve had a question that would be best answered by a real coroner and was wondering how I would go about doing that. Then I thought well maybe I can look up ‘ask a coroner’ in google because INTERNET!! Lo and behold! So in a story I’m writing my main character investigates the death of two people, both killed by drowning but here is the kicker, water was forced down their throats by magic. My question is this, after less than a day, what would a body look like that had been drowned but not submerged in a body of water?
It depends on the surroundings. Is the body in a warm, dry place? The body will be somewhat mummified. Is the body in a warm, damp place? The body will show early signs of decomposition. Is the body in a cool, dry place? The body will be fairly well preserved. Is the body in a cool, damp place? The body will show early signs of decomposition, but not as advanced as in a warm, damp location. And so on, and so forth…
My father passed away 2 weeks ago. He had been battling cancer for five year. A few days before he died he was put on hospice care, therefore when he died they did not perform an autopsy. I was very curious about his time of death. I found him dead at 6am, his body was white and his body was cold except for his legs, they were warm. About time would he have died?
Body temperature is a poor way of noting time of death. The better way to get a window of time is best determined by the amount of rigor mortis the body has. If he had no rigor mortis, he probably died within the past 4 hours. If he had slight rigor – maybe more like 6-8 hours, and strong rigor mortis – more like 10-12 hours.
How long after a patient dies does it take for the patient’s skin to appear grey in color and have a perceptible change of coolness to the touch?
It depends on the cause of death and the age of the person. An elderly person with a poor vascular system may have grey skin changes and coolness to the touch before death actually occurs…so right away. A younger person who dies, or a person without a cancer or vascular/cardiac disease may not show skin discoloration for quite some time. Cooling of the body (algor mortis) is dependent on the surrounding temperature, the person’s body size, the person’s place (in a bed, on a floor, covered, uncovered, clothed, unclothed, etc.) There are way too many variables to give you a simple answer to your question.
My 65 year old brother died at home suddenly with no previous hx of CAD. He lived alone, and was found 3 days following event. The medical examiner determined without autopsy that the cause of death was ‘heart attack’. Please describe the apparent classic observable signs of sudden cardiac death. I am confident in the ME’s conclusion, but would like clarification about the presentation that led to this conclusion.
Generally, a sudden death is from cardiac disease or stroke. A sudden stroke can often be ruled out by simply noticing the pupils as being one much larger and one much more constricted. Several things go into determining a probably cardiac related death: the person’s size, the person’s health habits (poor nutrition, poor self-care, poor dental care), the person’s drinking history (social drinker, beer-every-night drinker, etc.), the person’s location: on the toilet or recently used the toilet is common as the pressures of heart failure are often mistaken for needing to use the bathroom, recent physical activity – especially in hot/cold weather – raking, shoveling, lawn care, etc., recent complaints of flu or flu-like symptoms… there are many, many things we look at. But, a sudden death in someone of his age, without any other concern, is most likely a cardiac related death and it is an appropriate diagnosis.
My grandmother recently died and when the coroner showed up they asked for her wallet and to tow her vehicle to them at my expense. Why would they ask for these things?
We sometimes ask for the wallet for identifying information or to look for medical information. We usually don’t take possession of it unless it is necessary. We would never have a vehicle towed to our location – and if we did, it would certainly not be at the family’s expense. You should have the option to decline requests like that.