Analyses of Death Investigation Systems and Forensic Pathology: A Brief Historical Account

Abstract

Since 1928, there have been multiple analyses and reports issued about the status and needs of death investigation systems in the United States. Using references contained in the National Research Council's (NRC) report, “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward,” and backtracking references from those documents, previous reports and meeting agendas were obtained and reviewed which relate to formal study or discussion of death investigations systems and forensic pathology dating back to 1928. These include National Research Council Bulletins from 1928 and 1932, the 1954 “Model Postmortem Examinations Act,” a 1968 Forensic Pathology Progress Report, the 1985 Wingspread Symposium, a 2003 Institute of Medicine Death Investigation Workshop, a 2004 National Association of Medical Examiners Report on America's Medicolegal Offices, the 2009 NRC Report on Strengthening Forensic Science, and a 2010 Forensic Death Investigation Summit. These events and reports are briefly reviewed in this article. Over the past 82 years, needs for the death investigation system have been described. Although progress has been made in meeting those needs and improving death investigation systems, progress has been slow and much work remains to be done. Recent formation of the National Commission on Forensic Science and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Organization of Scientific Areas Committees (OSAC) may provide an impetus for more rapid and significant change.