As discussed in the previous post, the news organization ProPublica has been looking into the death investigation system in the U.S. and has found serious problems. It is possible that many cases of elder abuse, nursing home neglect or wrongful death are being overlooked because elderly people are often not autopsied after they die.

There are a number of flaws in the system that lead to suspicious elder deaths falling through the cracks. For one, the treating physician of the elderly person can say that the cause of death was natural and medical examiners and coroners won't investigate. But they could be wrong. Studies have shown that many doctors cannot correctly identify the cause of death of an elderly person or will fill out a death certificate incorrectly.

In addition, most states allow doctors to fill out that death certificate without even seeing the elderly person's body, which means they might not notice signs of abuse or neglect on a person's body or may take an aide's word for how a person died even if they do not know or are covering up the real reason.

Some advocates for the elderly population compare the situation now with where the U.S. was with combating child abuse 30 years ago. Finding better systems to prevent and crack down on elder abuse is becoming more urgent as the population ages. Almost one-third of Americans will be over the age of 60 soon.

Source: ProPublica, "Gone Without a Case: Suspicious Elder Deaths Rarely Investigated," Chisun Lee and A.C. Thompson and Carl Byker of PBS Frontline, Dec. 21, 2011