Standardize mortality data

Currently, mortality data for both suicide and drug overdoses lack standardization and are significantly delayed, which limits our ability to respond to these public health crises. As recommended by the 2017 Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, the CDC should work with states to “develop and implement standardized rigorous drug testing procedures, forensic methods, and appropriate toxicology instrumentation in investigating drug-related deaths.”[1] The CDC should do the same for investigating possible suicides, particularly given the difficulty of distinguishing unintentional and intentional drug overdoses.[2]

To assist with standardization across jurisdictions, Congress should significantly increase funding for local medical examiners and tie federal funding to standardized processes and reporting to ensure the availability of near-real-time data reporting. Funding should also be tied to standardized policies that allow access to linkable mortality data for purposes in the public interest, such as surveillance, research, and clinical quality improvement. Federal funding is particularly urgent given the chronic underfunding of many state and local medical examiners’ offices.[3]