Forensics Question

[pathstudent]

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This is probably something only residents in LA or NY could answer because that is where the stars reside, but I was reading about the actress Britany Murphy who recently passed and how the coroner did an autopsy. When stars like her or Heath Ledger or Michael Jackson pass are they treated the same way as the murdered gangstas and thugs and drunk accident victims or are they given VIP treatment after death with a special VIP holding crypt and special VIP private autopsy room done by the the coroner's top pathologist?

Has anyone ever been on a rotation when a star became a coroner's case? I would assume that they are given special VIP treatment.

 

[yaah]

I did a medical/hospital autopsy on a billionaire once. Nothing special happened. We have had forensics cases on local celebrities that the media is interested in, and nothing different happens except perhaps for extra warnings to keep your trap shut.

I wouldn't be surprised if Michael Jackson's family requested the autopsy be performed with gold instruments though.

 

[pathstudent]

I wouldn't be surprised if Michael Jackson's family requested the autopsy be performed with gold instruments though.

You mean diamond studded gold instruments.

 

[docbiohazard]

You mean diamond studded gold instruments.

Yeah, then they would ask if they could keep the instruments after the autopsy for "sentimental reasons"...

I did an autopsy on a well known local person once. It was disturbing because I couldn't maintain my usual distance with the process. People kept coming by and telling me what a nice person this person was, there were local memorial services, etc, so I was constantly bombarded by images and stories of the person in life.

 

[The right Path]

At the trauma conference in Tahoe this fall, the MD who did the Lacy Petersen case discussed the extra precautions that needed to be taken to avoid interference with the case. The ME actually dressed to look like a janitor and was left pretty well alone.

This was passed on to me second hand since I couldn't attend, darn it.

 

[pathstudent]

I am not talking about doing cases on local celebs like the local tv traffic bimbo. I am sure they must have protocols in manhattan and la for stars. Even death is not an equalizer

 

[HbyHA]

i've rotated at the NY office, but there were no "celebrity" deaths while i was there. though not 100% sure, i find it hard to believe there is a whole separate VIP facility that they managed to hide from me for that entire time i was there! I'm sure if was a real big case, they may have one of the more senior people do it (as opposed to a fellow) and shoo all the hovering med students/EMT students/residents away. some of the tox results seemed to be rushed though a bit though (ie Heath Ledger's results took like a week, while most others seemed to take a bit longer.)

 

[mlw03]

there may not be any "celebrity protocols" - i'd actually hope not. an FP should treat every case the same. as an example off the top of my head, when the infomercial guy died in Tampa, the name I saw in the newspapers as having been the medical examiner to perform the autopsy in that case was not the chief ME for that district. might have been a deputy chief though. i would agree it's approrpriate to have a senior pathologist on a high-profile case due to the increased scrutiny by the media, and strongly agree with keeping any students out of the room (just too hard to prevent them from talking). would think it'd be good for any fellows to be involved with those cases though, as that is part of the job.