29
2015 Annual Report Office of the Chief Medical Examiner State of Maryland
2015
Annual Report Office of the
Chief Medical Examiner
State of Maryland
Table of Contents Cases Reported to OCME
Action Taken ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1
Autopsied ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
Manner of Death ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Manner of Death
Classified by Sex ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Classified by Race .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Medical Examiner Cases
Cause and Manner of Death .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
A Three-Year Comparison ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Manner and Jurisdiction .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Toxicologic Testing
Percentage of Cases Positive for Alcohol and/or Drugs ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Drug Abuse Death
By Jurisdiction (3-Year Comparison) ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Undetermined Manner Only ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Homicide Deaths
Cause of Death ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
A Five-Year Comparison......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Deaths by Age ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 14
Firearm Deaths
A Five-Year Comparison......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
A Five-Year Comparison......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Classified by Age .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Classified by Race and Sex ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy
Classified by Age .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Classified by Race and Sex ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Suicide Death
Cause of Death ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Youth Suicides ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Deaths by Age ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 21
Transportation Deaths
Classified by Activity .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 22
Type of Vehicle ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 23
Classified by Age .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Alcohol/Drug Results ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 25
Alcohol Levels in Cases Testing Positive ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 26
Addendum
Miscellaneous Data ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 27
Appendix
Drug Classifications………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………..28
- 1 -
1849
4626 4676
969
337
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
5000
Approval Autopsy Declined Field Inspection Inspection at OCME
2015 Cases Reported to OCME - Action Taken
Total Cases - 12457
- 2 -
*Eleven cases were classified as “not applicable” (e.g. stillborn & non-human remains).
**Two homicides were not autopsied.
Accident, 1073, 22%
Homicide, 604, 12%
Natural, 1801, 36%
Not Applicable, 11, 0%
Suicide, 420, 9%
Undetermined, 1054, 21%
2015 Medical Examiner Cases Autopsied*
Total Cases Autopsied - 4963
- 3 -
*Undetermined Manner: Drugs/Narcotics ** Undetermined Manner: Other
Total Cases – 12,457
503
1534
606
8135
557 864
258
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
2015 Cases Reported to OCME Manner of Death
- 4 -
2015 Manner of Death
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000
Accident
Homicide
Natural
Suicide
Und. Drugs*
Und. Other*
Accident Homicide Natural Suicide Und. Drugs* Und. Other*Unknown 2 5 1 1 30Male 1250 532 4738 437 638 141Female 785 74 3392 119 225 87
Classified by Sex
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000
Accident
Homicide
Natural
Suicide
Und. Drugs*
Und. Other*
Accident Homicide Natural Suicide Und. Drugs* Und. Other*White 1393 82 4581 440 594 106Unknown 16 2 21 2 4 30Other 24 5 100 6 3 5Hispanic 67 25 142 16 9 8Asian 22 5 118 7 7 4African American 515 487 3173 86 247 105
Classified by Race
*Undetermined Manner: Drugs/Narcotics ** Undetermined Manner: Other
- 5 -
Manner of Death
Cause of Death Accident Homicide Natural
Not Applicable Suicide
Undeter- mined Total
Asphyxiation 86 15 5 118 18 242 Airway obstruction/Aspirated stomach content 6 5 1 12 Drowning 55 1 8 13 77 Hanging 1 98 1 100 Smoke inhalation 9 1 1 11 Strangulation/Asphyxiation 15 14 11 2 42
Chemical/Drug/Alcohol Intoxication/Abuse/Use 320 1 75 69 905 1370
Alcohol abuse/use 4 60 2 66 Alcohol and drug intoxication/use 8 4 9 21 Alcohol intoxication/use 21 2 23 Carbon monoxide 11 8 1 20 Cocaine and alcohol intoxication/use 1 1 2 Cocaine intoxication/use 16 7 18 41 Drug intoxication/abuse/use 41 1 4 31 72 149 Narcotic abuse/use 2 2 Narcotic and alcohol intoxication/use 44 5 195 244 Narcotic intoxication/use 174 2 21 605 802
Circulatory system 13 1 1365 10 1389 Aneurysm 4 4 Cardiac arrhythmia 2 70 3 75 Cardiomyopathy 24 24 Cardiovascular disease 8 1088 4 1100 Cerebrovascular disease 24 2 26 Hemorrhage 1 19 1 21 Other cardiac 1 83 84 Pulmonary embolism 2 53 55
Congenital / Perinatal 12 6 47 65 Congenital/Perinatal 3 6 9 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome 9 9 Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy (SUDI) 47 47
Digestive system disease 50 1 51 Cirrhosis 11 1 12 Gastrointestinal hemorrhage 32 32 Liver Disease 4 4 Other digestive 3 3
Electrocution 3 3 Electrocution 3 3
Endocrine and metabolic disease 48 48 Diabetes 33 33 Other Endocrine and metabolic 15 15
Hyperthermia 4 1 1 6 Hyperthermia 4 1 1 6
Hypothermia 33 1 2 36 Hypothermia 33 1 2 36
Infectious disease 20 1 21 Other infectious disease 19 1 20 AIDS/HIV 1 1
- 6 -
Manner of Death
Cause of Death Accident Homicide Natural
Not Applicable Suicide
Undeter- mined Total
Malignant neoplasms (Cancer) 26 26 Malignant neoplasms (Cancer) 26 26
Nervous system disease 1 1 22 2 26 Meningitis 1 1 Other CNS 5 1 6 Seizure disorder 1 1 16 1 19
Non-human remains 2 2 4 Non-human remains 2 2 4
Other natural cause 97 97 Other natural cause 97 97
Other non-natural cause 61 4 3 12 1 81 Other non-natural cause 57 4 3 12 76
Therapeutic misadventure 4 1 5 Respiratory system 6 3 80 1 90
Asthma 1 12 13 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 11 11 Other respiratory 7 7 Pneumonia 3 3 48 1 55 Anaphylaxis 2 2 4
Thermal Injuries (Burns) 19 1 1 3 24 Thermal Injuries (Burns) 19 1 1 3 24
Traumatic injury 527 576 1 220 25 1349 Blunt force 64 20 4 4 92 Fracture 12 1 13 Gunshot wound 1 464 187 3 655 Head/Chest injuries 61 8 1 5 75 Multiple injuries 368 20 21 10 419 Other trauma 20 2 1 1 2 26 Sharp force/cutting 1 61 6 1 69
Unknown cause 35 35 Unknown cause 35 35
Grand Total 1073 604 1801 11 420 1054 4963
- 7 -
Manner of Death - 3 Year Comparison
Medical Examiner Cases: Manner of Death, Maryland 2015
Manner of Death Number % Accident 2037 16.4% Homicide 606 4.9% Natural 8135 65.3% Suicide 557 4.5% Undetermined 1122 9.0% Total 12457 100%
Medical Examiner Cases: Manner of Death, Maryland 2014
Manner of Death Number % Accident 1810 16.3% Homicide 415 3.7% Natural 7307 65.8% Suicide 596 5.4% Undetermined 979 8.8% Total 11107 100%
Medical Examiner Cases: Manner of Death, Maryland 2013
Manner of Death Number % Accident 1826 17.0% Homicide 434 4.0% Natural 7133 66.3% Suicide 576 5.4% Undetermined 782 7.3% Total 10751 100%
- 8 -
2015 Manner of Death by County 2015 - Manner Accident Homicide Natural Suicide Undetermined Total
Allegany 19 3 39 9 23 93 Anne Arundel 81 17 147 49 85 379 Baltimore City 225 362 450 59 366 1462 Baltimore County 138 27 200 47 159 571 Calvert 20 2 29 13 16 80 Caroline 8 7 5 3 23 Carroll 33 1 48 12 26 120 Cecil 26 9 38 10 26 109 Charles 24 3 37 14 17 95 Dorchester 5 1 16 4 2 28 Frederick 34 8 50 15 30 137 Garrett 10 12 3 2 27 Harford 34 8 82 24 43 191 Howard 30 3 46 15 26 120 Kent 7 10 1 3 21 Montgomery 70 29 166 49 67 381 Prince George's 146 110 238 36 60 590 Queen Anne's 14 1 14 7 2 38 Saint Mary's 21 2 21 13 13 70 Somerset 11 1 11 3 26 Talbot 12 17 5 5 39 Washington 43 9 69 17 58 196 Wicomico 40 8 36 8 16 108 Worcester 22 18 5 14 59 Total 1073 604 1801 420 1065 4963 2015 - Case Type Autopsy OCME Insp. Total County Autopsy OCME Insp. Total
Allegany 85 8 93 Washington 184 12 196
Anne Arundel 351 28 379 Wicomico 102 6 108 Baltimore City 1367 95 1462 Worcester 51 8 59 Baltimore County 521 50 571 Grand Total 4626 337 4963 Calvert 73 7 80
Caroline 20 3 23 Carroll 116 4 120 Cecil 104 5 109 Charles 89 6 95 Dorchester 25 3 28 Frederick 126 11 137 Garrett 27 27 Harford 179 12 191 Howard 112 8 120 Kent 20 1 21 Montgomery 358 23 381 Prince George's 566 24 590 Queen Anne's 30 8 38 Saint Mary's 64 6 70 Somerset 20 6 26 Talbot 36 3 39
- 9 -
340 (17%)
158 (26%) 145 (26%)
423 (21%)
178 (29%)
145 (26%)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Accidents (2037) Homicides (606) Suicides (557)
Manner of Death
2015 Toxicology Testing # of Cases Positive for Alcohol and/or Drugs
(Percentage of the Manner of Death)
Alcohol Drugs
- 10 -
Drug Deaths
3 Year Comparison by Jurisdiction 2013-2015
18
19
120
6
16
5
4
73
71
5
27
51
6
39
2
22
29
38
3
20
198
399
109
23
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Worcester
Wicomico
Washington
Talbot
St. Mary's
Somerset
Queen Anne's
Prince George's
Montgomery
Kent
Howard
Harford
Garrett
Frederick
Dorchester
Charles
Cecil
Carroll
Caroline
Calvert
Baltimore County
Baltimore City
Anne Arundel
Allegany
2015
2014
2013
- 11 -
42 16 6
56
2 1
161
215
324
11 16
479
11 23 3
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2015 Drug Deaths Undetermined Manner
- 12 -
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Strangulation/Suffication
Sharp Force
Other
Head/Multiple Injuries
Firearms
Blunt Force
1
59
15
43
465
10
Total Deaths - 606
2015 Homicide Deaths Cause of Death
- 13 -
430 431 434 414
606
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Num
ber o
f Cas
es
Homicides 5 Year Comparison
2011 - 2015
- 14 -
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
0-14
15-20
21-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
51-55
56-60
61-65
66-70
71-75
76-80
Over 80
24 96
132 97
84
57 29
26 17
17 6
5 6 3
7
Total Deaths - 606
Age
Gro
up
2015 Homicide Deaths by Age
- 15 -
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
Accident Homicide Suicide Undetermined2011 3 299 240 22012 2 320 271 22013 5 310 265 22014 1 282 274 22015 1 465 214 3
Firearm Deaths 2011 - 2015
- 16 -
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
9
2
7
2
9
SIDS Deaths 2011 - 2015 Comparison
- 17 -
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - 2015
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
2 4 6 7 12Age in Months
Total of 9 Deaths
Classified by Age
Female, 1, 11%
Male, 8, 89%
Classified by Sex
African America
n, 4, 45%
Hispanic, 1, 11%
White, 4, 44%
Classified by Race
- 18 -
Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy - 2015
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3
6
14
10
4 3
0
4
0 0
3
Age in Months Total of 47 Deaths
Classified by Age
Female, 23, 49% Male, 24,
51%
Classified by Sex
African American,
28, 60%
Asian, 1, 2%
Hispanic, 4, 8%
Other, 2, 4%
White, 12, 26%
Classified by Race
- 19 -
2
1
35
149
238
77
7
6
11
31
0 50 100 150 200 250
Thermal Burns
Smoke Inhalation
Multiple Injuries
Hanging
Firearms
Drugs
Drowning
Cutting/Stab Wounds
Carbon Monoxide
Asphyxia
Total Cases - 557
2015 Suicide Deaths Classified by Cause of Death
23
17
8 11
8 5
2
11
6
31
13
1 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2015 Drug Deaths Suicide Manner
- 20 -
1
3
1 2 2
4
3
9
7
8
4
10
6
8 9
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25Age
Total Cases - 77
2015 Youth Suicides 25 Years of Age and Under
- 21 -
0 20 40 60 80
9-20
21-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
51-55
56-60
61-65
66-70
71-75
76-80
Over 80
42
43
48
39
35
43
52
67
51
39
30
23
7
38
Total Deaths - 557
2015 Suicide Deaths by Age
- 22 -
Total Cases – 477
11
276
47
20
97
26
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Bicyclist
Driver
Front Passenger
Passenger
Pedestrian
Rear Passenger
2015 Transportation Accidents Classified by Activity
- 23 -
17 8
2 3 1
61 1
39 226
1 26
57 5
2 4
1 2
11 10
0 50 100 150 200 250
VanUnknown
Train - PassengerTrain - Freight
TrainSUV
Pickup TruckPickup
Passenger CarOther TurckOther TruckMotorcycleMotorbike
Farm VehicleConstruction Equipment
BusBoat
BicycleATV
Total Cases - 477
2015 Transportation Deaths Type of Vehicle
- 24 -
0 20 40 60 80
0-56-10
11-1516-2021-2526-3031-3536-4041-4546-5051-5556-6061-6566-7071-7576-8080-85
Over 85
13 2
5 45
66 50
41
25 28
49 43
33 22
17 12
8 7
10
Total Cases - 477
2015 Transportation Deaths by Age
- 25 -
The alcohol and drug tests are not mutually exclusive, so the numbers in parentheses may not add up to the numbers on the bar graphs. For example, a bicyclist may be positive for both alcohol and drugs.
1
119
11 3
32
9 2
151
19
6
45
13 9
125
28
14
52
12
0 0 0 0 0 1 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Bicyclist (11) Driver (276) Front Passenger(47)
Passenger (20) Pedestrian (97) Rear Passenger (26)
2015 Transportation Accidents Alcohol/Drug Results
Alcohol Positive Drugs Positive Alcohol & Drugs Negative No Tests Performed477 Transportation Deaths
- 26 -
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
.01-.05
.06-.09
.10-.15
.16-.19
.20-.25
.26-.29
.30-.35
.36-.39
.40+
31 (18%)
22 (13%)
39 (22%)
34 (19%)
19 (11%)
13 (7%) 14 (8%)
2 (1%)
1 (1%)
477 Transportation Deaths 301 Negative for Alcohol 1 No Testing Performed
2015 Transportation Deaths Blood Alcohol Concentration in 175 Cases
37%* Tested Positive
*Percent based on total cases tested for alcohol
- 27 -
ADDENDUM
Miscellaneous Data 1. Number of autopsies 3,306
Number of partial autopsies 1,320 2. Organ donations 80 3. Unclaimed bodies released to State Anatomy Board 144 4. Exhumations 0 5. Bodies transported to the OCME 4,959
