AUGUSTA (NEWS CENTER Maine) — Maine's deputy chief medical examiner is making headlines in Mississippi.
Dr. Lisa Funte was the deputy chief medical examiner in Mississippi before being sworn in to her current position at the Maine Medical Examiner's office in January.
NEWS CENTER Maine has learned she left the state with dozens of cases still open — a backlog that translates into law enforcement investigations being put on hold and a lot of families who can't move forward.
A sister station of ours reported Tuesday that Dr. Funte had more than 100 autopsy reports that not yet been written. One of those reports, they said, includes a case where the autopsy and toxicology reports were completed a year ago.
Mississippi District Attorney John Champion said waiting a year is not unusual in Mississippi.
He had 20 cases that were still awaiting review from Mississippi's medical examiner’s office, including three homicides.
NEWS CENTER Maine tried speaking with Dr. Funte or someone from the Maine Medical Examiner’s office Wednesday, but they declined an on-camera interview.
They did release the following statements.
Maine Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lisa Funte:
"The Mississippi Office of Chief Medical Examiner has been and is experiencing a critical shortage of forensic pathologists. This is a problem experienced nationwide. The Mississippi Office is performing over 1600 autopsies a year with 3 forensic pathologists. The national standard for an office that size requires 8 full time forensic pathologists. Maine's Deputy Chief Funte has continued to work with the Mississippi Medical Examiner’s Office to complete her outstanding cases and will fulfill all required obligations.”
Administrator with the Maine Office of Chief Medical Examiner Mark Belserene:
“The Maine Office of Chief Medical Examiner continues to complete cases in a prompt time frame under the standards set by the National Association of Medical Examiners. Deputy Chief Funte continues to work on Mississippi cases on her own time with no impact on this office. The Maine Medical Examiner’s Office has had support from the Attorney General's Office, Governor LePage and the Legislature to meet our current and future operational needs.”
He went on to say “Deputy Chief Lisa Funte MD has provided outstanding performance in this office and proven to be a true asset to our team.”
Earlier this month, the National Association of Medical Examiners cited Maine as one of the best medical examiner offices in the country.