What is the role of the medical examiner?

The chief medical examiner of North Carolina performs postmortem exams for medical and legal purposes. The chief medical examiner must be a forensic pathologist certified by the American Board of Pathology and licensed to practice medicine (see § 130A‑378). He or she is assisted throughout the state by qualified pathologists and forensic chemists. § 130A‑383 stipulates that the medical examiner is to be involved in deaths resulting from violence, poisoning, accident, suicide or homicide; when the death was unexpected and when the deceased had been in apparent good health; when the death was unattended by a physician; when the death occurred in a jail or correctional institution; or when the death is otherwise "suspicious, unusual or unnatural." Q: Is embalming required in North Carolina? A: No. There is no statute that requires embalming in any situation under North Carolina law. However, funeral providers are allowed to require embalming under certain circumstances, such as when a ...  more