Post Mortem

With no access to refrigeration and no funding for a burial, Coroner Tim Brown of Marlboro County, SC, says he made a "professional decision" to cremate the decomposing remains of a John Doe, who was later identified as athlete Michael Jordan's father. In "Post Mortem," airing Feb. 1, FRONTLINE, ProPublica and NPR examine the reality of death investigation in America.

Every day, nearly 7,000 people die in America. In over 1,300 counties, elected coroners, many with no medical or scientific background, are responsible for determining what happened. In "Post Mortem," correspondent Lowell Bergman examines death investigation in America, a joint investigation with ProPublica, NPR and the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley.

(Warning: graphic images) In this clip from "Post Mortem," experts with the National Academy of Sciences call for federal standards in death investigation and to replace all coroners with trained medical examiners. But nationwide there is a severe shortage of competent forensic pathologists to do autopsies. On Feb. 1, FRONTLINE, ProPublica and NPR examine death investigation in America.

FRONTLINE investigates the the declining rate of autopsies. As a result, not only do murderers go free and innocent people go to jail, but the crisis in death investigation in America is also a threat to public health. 1/31/2012