# Any forensic pathologists here? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 31, 2017, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648 "2017-01-31T06:44:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/22 "2017-02-01T18:34:48Z")
> [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](#): > > But not necessarily required to be a coroner. Was someone here looking for a coroner? ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/23 "2017-02-01T19:29:30Z")
Don’t think they’re looking for anything. They haven’t been back, AFAICT. A forensic pathologist posted, no specific questions came forth. Just a general observation on my part, not widely known, I think. Many people do confuse coroners and medical examiners. Which is only natural, as in many locales, coroners are required to be ME’s. ---
**Author:** ![eightysix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@eightysix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eightysix)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/24 "2017-02-02T05:47:12Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Holding an MD or DO degree is one of the requirements for becoming a pathologist, so I suspect that will be a “yes”. The answer indeed is yes. A forensic pathologist is a physician who has specialized in pathology and subspecialized in forensic pathology. “Medical examiner” is a job title that can be appropriated by different occupations, anything that has to do with “examining” medical-type things, such as for example an insurance adjuster who might look into medical claims. The most appropriate, IMHO, appropriator of that title is by a forensic pathologist who is employed in a medical examiner office that investigates deaths that occur in that office’s jurisdiction. A coroner is (in all but rare cases) a nonphysician public official who investigates deaths that occur in the coroner office’s jurisdiction. The qualifications to be a coroner are quite minimal compared to the qualifications to be a physician medical examiner. Population-wise, about half of the US is served by medical examiners, and about half by coroners. Anywho, if the OP (or anyone else) still has some questions, I’d be happy to address them. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/25 "2017-02-02T14:32:11Z")
> [@eightysix](#): > > I am a forensic pathologist. Fire away. Nice username/occupation combo. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/26 "2017-02-02T16:14:07Z")
> [@eightysix](#): > > The answer indeed is yes. > > A forensic pathologist is a physician who has specialized in pathology and subspecialized in forensic pathology. “Medical examiner” is a job title that can be appropriated by different occupations, anything that has to do with “examining” medical-type things, such as for example an insurance adjuster who might look into medical claims. The most appropriate, IMHO, appropriator of that title is by a forensic pathologist who is employed in a medical examiner office that investigates deaths that occur in that office’s jurisdiction. > > A coroner is (in all but rare cases) a nonphysician public official who investigates deaths that occur in the coroner office’s jurisdiction. The qualifications to be a coroner are quite minimal compared to the qualifications to be a physician medical examiner. > > Population-wise, about half of the US is served by medical examiners, and about half by coroners. > > Anywho, if the OP (or anyone else) still has some questions, I’d be happy to address them. What’s up doc? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/27 "2017-02-02T16:33:34Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Nice username/occupation combo. Care to elaborate for us dense folks? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/28 "2017-02-02T16:53:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Care to elaborate for us dense folks? 86 is slang for getting rid of something ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/29 "2017-02-02T16:54:55Z")
> [@eightysix](#): > > I am a forensic pathologist. Fire away. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Nice username/occupation combo. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Care to elaborate for us dense folks? Eighty-six is diner slang for being all out of something or eliminating it from the menu (among other somewhat related meanings). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/30 "2017-02-02T17:11:25Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Eighty-six is diner slang for being all out of something or eliminating it from the menu (among other somewhat related meanings). The [diner slang etymology](http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/86.asp) is suspect. I always thought it was just rhyming slang for “nix.” There was also the legend that the “abortion pill” RU-486 was a bit of a pun on “are you for eighty-six?” or “Are you for killing/nixing.”) (And I assumed **eighty-six** ’s screen name was a reference to his job.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/31 "2017-02-02T17:16:54Z")
Still unresolved: what question(s) the OP needed a forensic pathologist to answer. Meantime, I have one. On the way to work this morning I was listening to an old Dragnet episode on the classic radio satellite channel. I arrived and had to turn off the radio at a critical point in the program, where Jack Webb and his sidekick had just learned that the victim of a purportedly natural death had “a stomach full of poison” which the M.E. (or what passed for one in those days) found at autopsy. Earlier, the man’s son reported to the detectives that before keeling over and hitting his head on the floor, Daddy mentioned that the milk he’d just drunk tasted “bitter”. So now I’m wondering what poison tastes bitter, kills incredibly fast and can “fill” a stomach to the extent that it’s detectable when you open the stomach. Cyanide is fast, but it’s usually described as having an acrid taste and produce a burning sensation (not that I’m eager to test the veracity of this). \*In this episode, Mama reportedly had checked with the insurance agent a few days before Daddy croaked, asking about increasing his life insurance coverage. Probably a coincidence. \*\*I’m pretty sure that even those people who can smell cyanide are not capable of distinguishing dose by odor. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/32 "2017-02-02T17:25:11Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > What’s up doc? Be careful with your punctuation or lack of it. The question takes on a different meaning with & without a critical comma. Bugs Bunny: “What’s up, doc?” Proctologist: “What’s up doc?” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/33 "2017-02-02T17:34:37Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Need answer fast? Apparently not. > [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](#): > > Don’t think they’re looking for anything. They haven’t been back, AFAICT. A forensic pathologist posted, no specific questions came forth. Given the OP’s posting track record, we may have to wait a while. Two posts in over 2 years. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/34 "2017-02-02T17:51:29Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Still unresolved: what question(s) the OP needed a forensic pathologist to answer. > > Meantime, I have one. > > On the way to work this morning I was listening to an old Dragnet episode on the classic radio satellite channel. I arrived and had to turn off the radio at a critical point in the program, where Jack Webb and his sidekick had just learned that the victim of a purportedly natural death had “a stomach full of poison” which the M.E. (or what passed for one in those days) found at autopsy. > > Earlier, the man’s son reported to the detectives that before keeling over and hitting his head on the floor, Daddy mentioned that the milk he’d just drunk tasted “bitter”. > > So now I’m wondering what poison tastes bitter, kills incredibly fast and can “fill” a stomach to the extent that it’s detectable when you open the stomach. Cyanide is fast, but it’s usually described as having an acrid taste and produce a burning sensation (not that I’m eager to test the veracity of this). > > \*In this episode, Mama reportedly had checked with the insurance agent a few days before Daddy croaked, asking about increasing his life insurance coverage. Probably a coincidence. > \*\*I’m pretty sure that even those people who can smell cyanide are not capable of distinguishing dose by odor. I’ll guess arsenic. ETA: not that arsenic necessarily has those properties in real life, but that it does in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/35 "2017-02-02T17:59:13Z")
Since there are no specific questions in the OP, let’s move this to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/36 "2017-02-02T18:44:11Z")
> [@RanOverByATrain](#): > > Hi! I wasn’t sure where to put this. I’m wondering if there are any forensic pathologists here because I have some questions. If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial 911. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/37 "2017-02-02T18:50:50Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I’ll guess arsenic. > > ETA: not that arsenic necessarily has those properties in real life, but that it does in Hollywood. I have read that some arsenic compounds can make food have a garlicky taste and smell. It could be described as bitter if one was not used to garlicky tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/38 "2017-02-02T19:01:12Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > I have read that some arsenic compounds can make food have a garlicky taste and smell. It could be described as bitter if one was not used to garlicky tastes. Arsenic does not produce (near) instantaneous death. Another candidate (strychnine) has a bitter taste, but from what I’ve read it doesn’t kill quite that fast (there are unpleasant intervening signs and symptoms). A pity Sgt. Friday is not a Doper, or he could tell us how the case turned out. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/39 "2017-02-02T19:29:48Z")
Maybe it was luminous toxin. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/40 "2017-02-02T20:46:38Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Still unresolved: what question(s) the OP needed a forensic pathologist to answer. > > Meantime, I have one. > > On the way to work this morning I was listening to an old Dragnet episode on the classic radio satellite channel. I arrived and had to turn off the radio at a critical point in the program, where Jack Webb and his sidekick had just learned that the victim of a purportedly natural death had “a stomach full of poison” which the M.E. (or what passed for one in those days) found at autopsy. > > Earlier, the man’s son reported to the detectives that before keeling over and hitting his head on the floor, Daddy mentioned that the milk he’d just drunk tasted “bitter”. > > So now I’m wondering what poison tastes bitter, kills incredibly fast and can “fill” a stomach to the extent that it’s detectable when you open the stomach. Cyanide is fast, but it’s usually described as having an acrid taste and produce a burning sensation (not that I’m eager to test the veracity of this). > > \*In this episode, Mama reportedly had checked with the insurance agent a few days before Daddy croaked, asking about increasing his life insurance coverage. Probably a coincidence. > \*\*I’m pretty sure that even those people who can smell cyanide are not capable of distinguishing dose by odor. Could you provide more details about the episode? I can’t find anything about an episode where a man is killed by poison. There is one where an elderly couple is poisoned but not just one man that I can find. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648/41 "2017-02-02T22:34:14Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Could you provide more details about the episode? I can’t find anything about an episode where a man is killed by poison. There is one where an elderly couple is poisoned but not just one man that I can find. It was one of the 1952-59 radio episodes (since Friday’s partner was Frank Smith). When I tuned in, the two intrepid detectives were interviewing the deceased man’s wife and later his venomous mother-in-law who dismisses him as a worthless drunk. As they’re leaving the 9-year-old son calls them from a window to tell them about the “bitter” milk. I see that at least 298 episodes of the series are available to listen to online. But since every single one from the time period in question seems to be titled “The Big \_” (The Big Smoke, The Big Strip, The Big Mask, The Big Ham, The Big Dig etc. etc.), there’s little clue as to which is the one I heard, and I’m not about to go through them all to find out the denouement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-forensic-pathologists-here/778648.md?page=3)