title: Coroners and the obligation to protect public health: the case of the failed UK vCJD study.
abstract: The Health Protection Agency has recently attempted to create a postmortem tissue archive to determine the prevalence of abnormal prion protein. The success of this archive was prevented because the Health Protection Agency could not convince coroners to support the study's methodology and participate on that basis. The findings of this paper detail and support the view that the Coroners' Society of England and Wales's refusal to participate was misguided and failed to appreciate that coroners have a moral obligation to protect public health. Measures to assist coroners in fulfilling this role are proposed.
authors: Department of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SH, UK. Catherine.McGowan@lshtm.ac.uk
authors: C R
authors: CR
authors: McGowan
authors: A M
authors: AM
authors: Viens
mesh_terms: D001109:Archives; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002423:Cause of Death; D003238:Connective Tissue; D003334:Coroners and Medical Examiners; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011634:Public Health; D012106:Research; D012941:Social Responsibility; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology