By Christina VandePol Mental health risks among death investigators are unavoidable, but have long been dismissed or downplayed by the mental health community, governments (their employers), and even medicolegal death investigators (MDIs) themselves. That may be changing. I’ve written elsewhere about the physical risks—musculoskeletal injuries from heavy lifting, infectious diseases, and chemical (drug) exposure—inherent in…
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Deadly falls down stairs: accident or homicide?
Fatal staircase fall or an assault? Falls of all kinds are a leading cause of accidental death in the United States. But a staircase fall death investigation is in a category of its own, especially when there’s a “person of interest” at the scene. Was that fatal fall really an accident? Or something more sinister?…
Stimulants and Hallucinogens in Death Investigation: an Update
More than 100,000 people in the United States died of unintentional poisoning in 2023. Illicit stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine were involved in a significant number of those deaths. Unlike stimulants, hallucinogens are rarely lethal on their own, but can cause bizarre and violent behavior resulting in death. A working knowledge of stimulants and hallucinogens…