The details of death weighed on Dane County?s official forensic inquisitor in numbers that justified last year?s creation of the Medical Examiner?s Office. It also forced the hiring of a backup physician and plans for a possible deputy medical examiner. A year ago, the county hired its first chief medical examiner, forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent Tranchida, and predicted the hire would save money by keeping autopsy work in-house and generate revenue by bringing in autopsy work from surrounding counties. Preliminary numbers bear that out, said Barry Irmen, director of the office….The effect of the Medical Examiner’s Office expansion on UW-Madison’s forensic pathology service was inevitable, said Dr. Robert Corliss, a medical school faculty member and forensic pathologist. The autopsy numbers ? which included both forensic and medical autopsies for the university ? dropped from about 650 in 2010 to 450 last year.
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