Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 25, June 21, 2024
Section 64-84-6 - Death Circumstances That Require Medico-legal Death Investigation6.1. The CoME, ACoME, and CoCo, under authority and supervision of the OCME, shall investigate the circumstances of a death when: 6.1.1. A person dies without benefit of having a pre-existing patient relationship to a treating physician, also referred to as an "unattended death" in W. Va. Code § 61-12-8;6.1.2. A person who is in apparent good health and dies suddenly when there is no history or other reliable evidence of serious natural disease, or other circumstance, so as to be able to reasonably assume death due to natural causes;6.1.3. Any death of an inmate in a public institution such as a jail dies while in the institution, or while in police custody, during police intervention, during court-ordered hospitalization, or when the death is believed to be due to, or in association with, failure to receive code mandated public services provided by county, state, or federal social service agencies;6.1.4. A person dies due to, or in association with, environmental conditions suspected to pose a hazard to public health or safety;6.1.5. A person dies due to, or in association with, violence, suspected violence, or by any suspected external cause, regardless of the interval between the injury and death; or6.1.6. A person dies under any suspicious conditions, or in any unusual or unnatural manner.