In collaboration with the Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and California Watch.

Death Investigation in America

How America's patchwork system of death investigation puts the living at risk

Underscoring a flawed system, one pathologist leaves a trail of scandals in his wake

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What happens when a child dies under suspicious circumstances?

Popular television shows portray death investigators as high-tech sleuths wielding the most sophisticated tools of 21st century science. An unprecedented collaborative investigation by FRONTLINE, ProPublica and NPR found a very different reality: A dysfunctional system in which there are few standards, little oversight and the mistakes are literally buried. In state after state, reporters found autopsies -- our final physical exam -- conducted by doctors who lacked certification and training. An increasing number of the 2.5 million Americans who die each year go to the grave without being examined at all. More »

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