The role of medical examiners and coroners in public health surveillance and epidemiologic research.

The role of medical examiners and coroners (ME/Cs) in public health surveillance and epidemiologic research is reviewed. Definitions are offered, and discussion centers on the advantages of, and obstacles to the use of ME/C data; existing surveillance systems relevant to ME/Cs; studies assessing the usefulness of ME/C data; newly emerging tools for ME/C surveillance and epidemiologic research; and recommendations for the future. ME/C data have been used quite successfully in some settings and are potentially very useful for surveillance and epidemiologic research on a large scale, but the data have limitations that need to be addressed in the future.