NEWS

Local coroner will still autopsy drug overdose victims

Bethany Bruner
Reporter

NEWARK - The Licking County Coroner's Office will continue to perform autopsies on people who die from suspected drug overdoses, despite decisions from other offices across the state to stop.

Chief Forensic Pathologist Dr. Jeff Lee said while the number of overdose deaths has gone up, the coroner's office is not overwhelmed by the work.

The Licking County Coroner's Office also regularly performs autopsies for Knox, Coshocton, Morgan, Monroe, Perry, Fairfield, Noble, Muskingum, Guernsey and Belmont counties.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office recently announced that beginning Aug. 1, it will no longer perform autopsies for suspected drug overdoses in outlying counties. The decision affects several counties, including Richland County.

In April, the Richland County Coroner's Office began using the Cuyahoga County office after the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office said it would no longer accept bodies from outside the county for autopsies because of a staffing shortage of a forensic pathologist.

Richland County Coroner Dr. Stewart Ryckman said Monday his office will draw blood in suspected overdose deaths, and the toxicology tests will be performed at the Cuyahoga County office.

Lee said Licking County will not change its position on autopsies unless the work becomes so overwhelming it cannot be done with the staffing available. He said the concern is that if toxicology is the sole test used to determine cause of death, coroners and medical examiners are left with few options if the test, which can take weeks to be completed, comes back negative or too low to be a cause of death.

"What do you do?" he said. "What did you miss? They could have had a stroke or a heart attack or something else."