Seems like the word “autopsy” is used to refer to the forensic examination of the body. The coroner’s inquest into the cause of death may or may not include a forensic examination of the body.
The statute doesn’t say what the forensic examination includes - except that it must be done by a certified anatomic or forensic pathologist. The statutes provide for costs for lab work on organs and tissues but nowhere says that an autopsy has to include those things. So we really don’t know whether that stuff was done. The way we would know is by having the lab results cited but the AP report on the autopsy doesn’t cite any lab work. Just external, psychological stuff that could be claimed to rely on witness statements.
841-18: “§841-18 Coroner’s physician; laboratory facilities. The medical examiner or any of the medical examiner’s assistants in the city and county of Honolulu, and any experienced or qualified government physician designated by the coroner in the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, shall be the coroner’s physician for such county or city and county. The facilities of the laboratories of the state department of health shall be made available to the coroner’s physician. The term government physician as used in this chapter means a physician employed by the State or any of its political subdivisions. [L 1949, c 355, pt of §5; RL 1955, §260-18; am L 1962, c 8, §2; HRS §715-18; ren L 1972, c 9, pt of §1; gen ch 1985]”
>>>>
IOW, the HDOH does the lab testing. Convenient.
It was interesting in the USCG report: it was a female doctor from the HDOH who contacted USCG asking the status of Fuddy and Yamamoto, at 5:15pm, which was 2 minutes before the MCFD said that the USCG reported one in critical condition. That wouldn’t be somebody at the Vital Records Dept; that would be somebody else. I wonder what department at the HDOH has doctors. Maybe the lab? Who else?
The redaction in the USCG report indicates the Dr. who first contacted the USCG asking about Fuddy and Yamamoto has 5 letters in the first name and 5 in the last name. Maybe Linda Rosen, who has been chosen as Fuddy’s permanent replacement. See http://governor.hawaii.gov/blog/governor-names-dr-linda-rosen-as-department-of-health-director/
The guy who was immediately made the interim director - bypassing Keith Yamamoto, Fuddy’s deputy director - was Gary Gill (see http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/20131224_Gill_named_interim_director_at_state_health_department.html )
Gill was the guy in charge of the HDOH’s state laboratory division, which does laboratory testing for autopsies...