Coroner/Medical Examiner - Mortality Data Improvement Project

Coroner/Medical Examiner - Mortality Data Improvement Project is sponsored by New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. Funding for projects aimed at improving mortality data related to drug overdoses, applicable statewide including New York City.

Opioid Settlement Funds: Supporting Medical Examiners and Coroner Offices | Opioid Principles 1. Spend the Money to Save Lives 2. Use Evidence to Guide Spending 3.

Invest in Youth Prevention 4. Focus on Racial Equity 5. Develop a Fair and Transparent Process for Deciding Where to Spend the Funding Opioid Settlement Funds: Supporting Medical Examiners and Coroner Offices By: Michele Trofatter, CDC Foundation and Amy Dolinky, Dolinky Consulting Medical examiners and coroners are critical partners in helping public health and other sectors understand the scope of the overdose crisis.

These offices conduct death investigations, gather mortality data and connect directly with loved ones impacted by loss. Medical examiners and coroners work across public health, public safety and human services. Their efforts can also strengthen data systems infrastructure and support surveillance efforts.

How Opioid Settlement Funds Can Support Medical Examiners and Coroners Opioid settlement funds present a unique opportunity for decision-makers and local government officials to strengthen medical examiner and coroner data system infrastructure while furthering overdose prevention and response goals. The national opioid settlements include Exhibit E, a list of approved uses for funds.

The list focuses on evidence-based strategies for prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery. The work of medical examiners and coroners as public health partners can directly support the goals associated with settlement funds as well as local, regional or statewide needs.

Potential investments specific to medical examiners and coroners may include: Enhancing toxicology testing and capacity to better identify and respond to emerging drug trends. Expanding data systems and dashboards to improve overdose tracking and reporting. Supporting families and loved ones affected by drug overdose deaths through grief counseling and outreach services.

Collaborating across systems to strengthen overdose surveillance, early warning systems, and community drug overdose prevention efforts.

Case Studies: Funding to Medical Examiners and Coroners Several jurisdictions have started to leverage settlement funds to enhance medical examiner and coroner operations and drug overdose response including: New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute Office of Drug User Health: New York is allocating $350,000 over two years to offset the costs of overdose fatality reporting and improve statewide overdose surveillance.

The funding helps offset the increased administrative costs associated with timely and accurate overdose death reporting across jurisdictions. Improved surveillance allows state and local leaders to identify emerging drug trends, target prevention and harm reduction resources more effectively, and evaluate whether funded strategies are reducing overdose deaths.

This investment supports data-driven decision-making and highlights the importance of public health data in responding to the overdose crisis. Utah Office of the Medical Examiner: Utah is investing $1,040,000 to enhance overdose death monitoring and expand family support services.

This approach strengthens the medical examiner’s capacity to investigate deaths, analyze toxicology results, and report findings more consistently and efficiently. Additionally, expanded family support services help connect those who have lost a loved one to grief counseling, trauma-informed care, and community resources.

This investment improves both the quality of overdose data and the state’s ability to respond to the community and personal impacts of the crisis. Marion County, Indiana Coroner’s Office: Marion County is allocating $1,000,000 over one year to hire social workers, provide grief support and establish treatment voucher programs.

This funding supports the hiring of social workers to engage families after drug overdose deaths, provide grief support, and connect individuals at risk of overdose to treatment and recovery services. The county is also establishing treatment voucher programs to reduce financial barriers to substance use treatment services.

This investment reflects a policy shift toward using coroner offices as critical touchpoints for linkage to care and community support. “Opioid use disorder continues to pose a significant public health challenge in Marion County, IN. Since 2020, drug intoxication has been the leading cause of death among cases under the jurisdiction of the Marion County Coroner’s Office (MCCO).

More than 80% of these deaths involve opioids and/or Fentanyl. In 2022, there was a pivotal shift in Marion County’s response to the opioid crisis. With the arrival of Indiana’s share of the $26 billion national opioid settlement, the Marion County Coroner’s Office (MCCO) began laying the foundation for a multi-year strategy to address opioid use disorder.

The MCCO was approved to receive funds to focus on projects meant to help Marion County residents who have been impacted by opioid drug intoxication deaths. In 2023, the office expanded its efforts by allocating funds to support critical staffing positions, launch a mental health voucher program, and acquire specialized equipment to enhance forensic and investigative capabilities.

The MCCO has been able to continue using the awarded funding through 2024 and 2025 to sustain these efforts, with a continued focus on outreach, support, and public education. ” – Alfarena McGinty, Marion County, Indiana Coroner’s Office York County, Pennsylvania Coroner’s Office: York County is investing $350,000 over one year to embed a social worker family advocate, connecting survivors to trauma-informed care and treatment.

The social worker position ensures that families impacted by overdose fatalities receive timely support and pathways to treatment, counseling, and recovery services. By formalizing this role, the county is strengthening coordination between death investigation, behavioral health providers, and community-based organizations.

This investment highlights how communities with lower dollar amounts can make investments to improve outcomes for families while strengthening local overdose response infrastructure. “I was inspired to apply for our county’s opioid settlement funds to enable us to hire a social worker to serve as a family advocate, conducting outreach to families who had lost a loved one to opioid use disorder.

We received funding in late 2024 for 2025-2028. Our hope is that at the end of the funding period, the role will evolve into a permanent county-funded position to focus on all families who have experienced sudden loss.

The family advocate has become an integral part of the York County Coroner’s Office, filling the void by referring the next of kin to resources they and their family members need and thereby, interrupting the cycle of opioid use disorder that exists in our community.

” – Pamela Gay, York County, Pennsylvania Coroner’s Office Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Office of Medical Examiner: Milwaukee County is investing $2,290,541 over three years to expand staffing capacity for death investigations and toxicology testing. The funding addresses workforce shortages and backlogs of cases that can delay and limit the usefulness of mortality data.

Increased staffing and laboratory capacity within the medical examiner’s office can produce more timely and accurate drug overdose data to support public health surveillance and policy decisions. This investment highlights the importance of resources to support the role of medical examiner offices in overdose response efforts.

Cuyahoga County, Ohio Office of Medical Examiner: Cuyahoga County is investing $600,000 over one year to upgrade toxicology equipment and fund family support and data analysis positions. Upgraded laboratory technology improves the accuracy and speed of identifying substances involved in overdose deaths, improving surveillance and assisting with identification of drug trends.

Dedicated staff focused on supporting families and data analysis ensure that both impacted families and decision-makers benefit from clear information and coordinated services. This initiative highlights how opioid settlement funds can improve organizational capacity and community support.

These examples illustrate how medical examiners and coroners across the country can improve systems, increase data quality and support communities while ensuring alignment with requirements of the opioid settlements. Next Steps to Support Medical Examiners and Coroners For more information, see Opioid Settlement Funds: Opportunities for Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices here .

The CDC Foundation’s MDI Connect is a forum for medical examiner and coroner offices, their data sharing partners and software vendors to design, build and test standards-based data exchange practices. To learn more, visit https://www. cdcfoundation.

org/MDI-Connect . Amy Dolinky started Dolinky Consulting in 2025, offering opioid settlement expertise. She serves as Technical Advisor, Opioid Settlement Funds since 2022.

She holds a master’s degree in public policy and administration with a focus on global health from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in social science from Loyola University New Orleans. Michele Trofatter is a Technical Advisor for Medicolegal Death Investigation Data Modernization Initiatives supporting multiple projects including MDI Connect at CDC Foundation.

She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where she received her degree in Medical Technology and later completed a master’s degree in public health with a concentration in policy and administration. This product was produced by CDC Foundation in collaboration with the International Association of Medical Examiners and Coroners (IACME).

CDC Foundation would like to thank the following reviewers and contributors: Dr. Marcus Nashelsky, Medical Examiner, Iowa State University, retired; Pamela Gay, Coroner, York County Coroner’s Office, Pennsylvania; Alfarena McGinty, Coroner, Marion County Coroner’s Office, Indiana. This publication was made possible with a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to the CDC Foundation as part of the Bloomberg Overdose Prevention Initiative.

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloomberg Philanthropies nor the CDC Foundation.