When does a case fall under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner?

In the case of an unexpected or possibly unnatural death, an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death by the Medical Examiner’s Office is legally required to determine the cause and manner of death and to establish the identity of the deceased before a medical examiner can sign the death certificate. The types of deaths that fall under Medical Examiner jurisdiction are specified in Florida Statute 406. The Medical Examiner’s Office has no jurisdiction over deaths other than those specified by the statute

Florida Statute 406.11 specifies a dozen categories of death cases that fall under medical examiner jurisdiction and must be reported to the Medical Examiner’s Office. These are:

• Of criminal violence
• By accident
• By suicide
• Suddenly, when in apparent good health
• Unattended by a practicing physician or other recognized practitioner
• In any prison or penal institution
• In police custody
• In any suspicious or unusual circumstance
• By criminal abortion
• By poison
• By disease constituting a threat to public health
• By disease, injury, or toxic agent resulting from employment

The majority of these have to do with traumatic deaths or death occurring while under the custody of the State. The deaths of patients who have been involuntarily committed (“Baker Acted”) or those who are mentally disabled and in a State-run facility are considered “in custody” deaths, and the Medical Examiner’s Office will assume jurisdiction.

Of the natural death cases, the issues of “unattended” deaths and deaths occurring “suddenly, when in apparent good health” seem to cause the most confusion about jurisdiction.

“Unattended by a physician” means there was no doctor/patient relationship in existence at the time of death. An “attended” death does not require the doctor to be physically at the patient’s bedside, only that a doctor/patient relationship exists (see Attorney General’s Opinion 94-103). Both AGO 94-103 and F.S. 382.11 hold that, if the patient was last treated by a physician within the 30 days prior to death, that patient is considered to be under that doctor’s care. Enrollment in a Hospice program is considered “attended”.

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