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Bruce Goldfarb spent ten years with Marylands Office of the Chief Medical Examiner where every sudden or unattended death in the state is scrutinized

Touching on numerous scandals including Derek Chauvins trial for the murder of George Floyd and the tragic killing in police custody of Freddie Gray Goldfarb pulls back the curtain on a pioneer institution in crisis

Medical examiners and the investigators and technicians who support them play vital roles in the justice and public health systems of every American community During Goldfarbs time with the Maryland OCME opioidrelated deaths contributed to a significant increase in their workload Faced with a chronic shortage of qualified experts and inadequate funding their important and fascinating work has become more challenging than most people could ever imagine

The public gets a skewed view of the relationship between police and medical examiners from procedural crime dramas Bruce Goldfarb writes of his work inside one of Americas most storied forensic centers We arent on the same team We arent on any team The medical examiners sole duty is to the deceased person We speak for the dead