Coroners and medical examiners: reporting drug overdose deaths.

Existing law requires the coroner to inquire into and determine the manner, circumstances, and cause of all violent, sudden, or unusual deaths. Existing law authorizes a county board of supervisors, by ordinance, to abolish the office of coroner and provide instead for the office of medical examiner, to be appointed by the board and to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the coroner. This bill would require the county coroner or medical examiner to report, in writing on the 15th day of January, April, July, and October, to the State Department of Public Health deaths in the preceding 3-month period that involved, or were caused by, an overdose of a drug or drugs. The bill would require the written report to include the primary substance or substances that caused, or were involved in, each death, as well as the presence, if any, of methamphetamine, opioids, cocaine, or benzodiazepines. By imposing new requirements on county coroners and medical examiners, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.