It can (and does) happen right here

Harvard-educated Robert West, M.D., has a lot to say about the state's, and the nation's, deficiencies in the coroner system. Before you say "not interested," answer two questions. Are you a fan of murder mysteries, investigation TV dramas, or whodunnits? How about local history?

If one of those is "yes," try Doc West's new book, "It Can (and Does) Happen Here," available through Amazon. It's a quick read (150 short pages), and more of a page-turner than the average, locally written nonfiction piece. No, this highly intelligent physician is not going to win any Pulitzers (sorry, Doc), but he has too much knowledge, perspective, and experience to miss.

Doc West does more than outline some of his more interesting cases as Kootenai County coroner from 1970 through 2011, subtly pointing out the gaping holes in the system along the way in his straightforward style. He weaves in the history, social structure, and character of North Idaho - beautiful and flawed - by way of introducing each.

Yes, the infamous Joseph Duncan case is in there; even as a newsroom junkie with contacts, I learned more than the too-much I already knew. Longtime residents will recognize other painful cases, such as young Carissa Benway's.

But "Doc" doesn't stick to murder - which represents only 3 in 100,000 Idaho deaths per population. He covers suicide (18 per 100,000 and far higher than the national average), alcohol- and drug-related "accidents," and some which are just plain bizarre. The guy who died collecting golfballs which had sailed off the floating green. The truck-driver who got narcotics from the same physician-examiner who approved his commercial driver's license (which forbids the use of narcotics). The homeless person crushed undetected in a Dumpster. The overdose of nitrous oxide, self-administered to enhance... well, that one's too PG-13 to describe here.

Introducing each case's mini-history is a glimpse of who we are and were, often in surprising technical detail. Mining and timber, hunting and forestry, field burning and manufacturing, not to mention a hint of illegal trades. We have wildlife, indigenous and otherwise: migrating birds, a 9-foot snake, and housecats closed up with the only "food" available. Of course the reader also learns some real-life pathology, toxicology, and forensics, along with coroner and police procedure.

The worst? Our dumb luck. Did you know a coroner needn't be a licensed medical examiner-physician (like Doc West), nor even a forensically trained nurse (like his successor coroner Deb Wilkey)? Well-qualified coroners in the U.S. are too rare, says the author, and the career is not sufficiently encouraged at medical schools. No medical training is statutorily necessary in Idaho (and qualifications highly divergent state-to-state), yet the coroner is responsible for determining cause and manner of death by examining the human body (and surroundings). And no, that's not always by autopsy - in fact, not very often.

Why? Budget. The Kootenai County coroner's pathology budget, says Doc West, is only $160,000 annually. One autopsy with associated tests costs about $2,500. Of the roughly 1,300 deaths in the county each year, about 700 fall under the coroner's jurisdiction. Obviously few make it that far. Families left behind, society at large, prosecutors, the innocent and the guilty - all need tragedy's truth. Death is as important as life.

We get a steady stream of unsolicited new books at The Press, we read few and review almost none. It's a small staff with hardly the time to add "book reviewer" to a job which tends to run late into each evening. Why was this one different? History is the quick answer, but others include that. Change - that's the big reason, and it's Dr. West's stated motivation for writing this book. The system needs to change. It's underfunded, underlegislated, and ill-defined, and its function in society too important to remain that way.

Sholeh Patrick, J.D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at [email protected].