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Medical Examiner

Autopsy Report Request

The information contained within an autopsy report is confidential and treated as a medical record. 

Complete the Request for Autopsy Report Form.  The final report is available at no charge to the immediate and legal next of kin (spouse, adult child, parent, adult sibling or grandparent).

If there is a request for a copy of the report from someone other than those legally entitled (e.g. insurance company or private attorney), the request must be submitted on their letterhead and include a HIPPA form signed by the legal next of kin.  The request must be accompanied by a check for $40.00 (made payable to the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office). 

Autopsy results and reports are NOT given out until the case file is complete.  If the death was suspicious or the autopsy report contains sensitive material that could jeopardize a criminal investigation, there may be an additional delay before it is released.

Program Overview

It is the mission of the Erie County Medical Examiner’s (ME) Office to serve the public in a professional, confidential and courteous manner in the medico-legal investigation of deaths in Western New York counties, thereby enhancing our understanding of death and dying.  

Our objectives are to work diligently to determine the cause and manner of death of our constituents, and to convey those findings in a timely fashion to families and to such agencies in the health and legal communities that have ongoing concerns related to the deceased and their survivors.

The Office of the Medical Examiner is organized into three sections:

  1. Forensic Pathology
  2. Field Investigation
  3. Laboratory, including Forensic Toxicology and Histology

The Medical Examiner's Office generates death certificates as to cause and manner of death. Manners of death are classified as natural, accidental, homicide, suicide, or undetermined. As mandated by law, the ME is responsible for investigating the death of any person who dies within Erie County as a result of:

  • Criminal violence
  • Neglect
  • Casualty,
  • Suicide
  • In any suspicious or unusual manner
  • Individuals who die suddenly when in apparent health or those unattended by a physician
  • Deaths occurring while a person is confined in a public institution other than a hospital, infirmary or nursing home. 

The Histology laboratory and the Forensic Toxicology laboratory within the Medical Examiner’s Office provide specialized laboratory services in death and DUI, drug facilitated and sexual assault investigations.   

The Office also participates in the training programs for:

  • University at Buffalo (SUNY) Medical School's resident doctors
  • University at Buffalo (SUNY) Medical School's  third and fourth year medical students
  • University at Buffalo (SUNY) School of Dental Medicine's fourth year dental school students
  • SUNY Buffalo State's Forensic Chemistry students
  • Hilbert College Forensic Science and Criminal Justice students
  • University at Buffalo (SUNY) Anthropology students
  • Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) students

Revenue enhancing activities are derived through contractual agreements with Niagara, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties for forensic autopsy services, and with  Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Jefferson Counties for forensic toxicology assistance.  

Office of the Medical Examiner Annual Report (2013)

Type of Reportable Deaths

The Office of the Medical Examiner (ECMEO) has jurisdiction over deaths occurring under the following circumstances: 

  • All forms of criminal violence or from an unlawful act or criminal neglect.
  • All accidents (motor vehicle, industrial, home, public place, etc.).
  • All suicides.
  • All deaths that were caused or contributed to by drug and/or chemical overdose or “poisoning”.
  • Sudden death of a person in apparently good health.
  • Deaths which occur unattended by a physician and where no physician can be found to certify the cause of death.
  • Deaths of all persons in legal detention, jails or police custody. This category also include any prisoner who is a patient in a hospital, regardless of the duration of hospital confinement.
  • When a fetus is born dead in the absence of a physician or midwife.
  • Deaths due to disease, injury or toxic agent resulting from employment.
  • Dead bodies brought into the County without proper medical certification.
  • Deaths which occur in any suspicious or unusual manner. 

Organ, Tissue and Eye Donation

The Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office works collaboratively with UNYTS to honor families’ wishes regarding authorization for donation of organs, tissues and eyes from their family member, while maintaining the integrity of the Office's medico-legal responsibilities.

It is with rare exception that the procurement of organs, tissues and eyes is denied by the Erie County Medical Examiner’s office. 

For further information on organ and tissue donations, contact UNYTS at 716-853-6667 ext. 5.

Internships

Contact

501 Kensington Ave.

Buffalo, NY 14214

Telephone: (716) 961-7591

Fax: (716) 961-7581

Tara J. Mahar, MD, Chief Medical Examiner

Katherine F. Maloney, MD, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner

Janinne Blank, MBA, RN, Director, Division of Medical Examiner

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