Editing Autopsy (section)

== Prevalence ==
In 2004 in England and Wales, there were 514,000 deaths, of which 225,500 were [[Inquests in England and Wales|referred to the coroner]]. Of those, 115,800 (22.5% of all deaths) resulted in post-mortem examinations and there were 28,300 [[Inquests in England and Wales|inquests]], 570 with a jury.<ref name="dca">UK [[Department for Constitutional Affairs]] (2006), [http://www.dca.gov.uk/corbur/reform_coroner_system.pdf Coroners Service Reform Briefing Note] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106092535/http://www.dca.gov.uk//corbur/reform_coroner_system.pdf |date=2008-11-06 }}, p. 6</ref>

The rate of consented (hospital) autopsy in the UK and worldwide has declined rapidly over the past 50 years. In the UK in 2013, only 0.7% of inpatient adult deaths were followed by consented autopsy.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Turnbull A.J. |author2=Osborn M. |author3=Nicholas N. |title=Hospital Autopsy: endangered or extinct? |journal=Journal of Clinical Pathology |volume=68 |issue=8 |pages=601–04 |date=June 2015 |pmid=26076965 |doi=10.1136/jclinpath-2014-202700 |pmc=4518760}}</ref>

The autopsy rate in [[Germany]] is below 5% and thus much lower than in other countries in Europe. The governmental reimbursement is hardly sufficient to cover all the costs, so the medical journal ''[[Deutsches Ärzteblatt]]'', issued by the [[German Medical Association]], makes the effort to raise awareness regarding the underfinancing of autopsies. The same sources stated that autopsy rates in [[Sweden]] and [[Finland]] reach 20 to 30%.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aerzteblatt.de/archiv/208615/Leichenschau-Gefahr-durch-Unterfinanzierung|title=Leichenschau: Gefahr durch Unterfinanzierung von Bernd Thode|date= 2019|publisher=Deutsches Ärzteblatt |language=de|access-date=2019-09-21}}</ref>

In the United States, autopsy rates fell from 17% in 1980 to 14% in 1985<ref name="cdc numbers">[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] (1988)
, [https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000003.htm Current Trends Autopsy Frequency – United States, 1980–1985], ''[[Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report]]'', '''37'''(12);191–94</ref> and 11.5% in 1989,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Pollock DA, O'Neil JM, Parrish RG, Combs DL, Annest JL | title = Temporal and geographic trends in the autopsy frequency of blunt and penetrating trauma deaths in the United States | journal = JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association | volume = 269 | issue = 12 | pages = 1525–31 | year = 1993 | pmid = 8445815 | doi = 10.1001/jama.1993.03500120063027 }}</ref> although the figures vary notably from county to county.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db67.htm|title=Products – Data Briefs – Number 67|date= August 2011|publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] |language=en-us|access-date=2017-02-06}}</ref>