Reporting a Death

In most cases a doctor, hospital, or police department will report a death. However, if none of these are involved, you may need to contact the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner (ACOME) directly.

When to Notify the Medical Examiner

ACOME is responsible for investigating the facts and circumstances concerning deaths that have happened within the county, regardless of where the incident may have occurred, for the purpose of determining whether or not an autopsy should be conducted.

Pennsylvania Laws Concerning the Power of the Coroner

ACOME should be notified in the event of:

• Sudden deaths not caused by readily recognizable disease, or wherein the cause of death cannot be properly certified by a physician
• Deaths occurring under suspicious circumstances
• Deaths occurring as a result of violence or trauma
• Any death from trauma, chemical injury, drug overdose or reaction to drugs, medication or medical treatment
• Operative and peri-operative deaths in which the death is not readily explainable
• Any death wherein the body is unidentified or unclaimed
• Deaths as due to contagious disease and constituting a public hazard (known or suspected)
• Deaths occurring in prison or a penal institution, or while in the custody of the police
• Deaths of persons whose bodies are to be cremated, buried at sea or otherwise disposed of so as to be thereafter unavailable for examination
• Sudden Unexplained Infant Death (SUID)
• Stillbirths