Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald issued the following statement regarding the retirement of Dr. Thomas Andrew, the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of New Hampshire:

After 20 years of exemplary service to our State as Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Thomas Andrew is retiring. He took office in September 1997. At that time, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner had been without a permanent leader for 3 years. From the outset, Dr. Andrew brought dedication, professionalism and the highest quality of work to the position. He set upon a course to seek and obtain certification from the National Association of Medical Examiners. Under his leadership, the Office was recently recertified.

In recent years, the challenges facing his office have increased dramatically. When he started, the caseload was about 900 per year. That number has more than doubled, due to population growth and the drug crisis. Dr. Andrew has very successfully managed the challenges posed by the increased caseloads and has played a critical role in the State's response to this crisis.

Over the years, Dr. Andrew has been an invaluable partner in law enforcement and, in particular, to the Attorney General's duties in prosecuting homicides. He has also played an important role in public health by compiling and publishing data on untimely deaths. He has long been a member of the New Hampshire Suicide Prevention Council and has served on many fatality review committees over the years.

We thank Dr. Andrew for his service and we wish him and his family all the best in the years to come.

About the Office of Chief Medical Examiner:
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is a unit of the Department of Justice. It is responsible for determining the cause and manner of sudden, unexpected or unnatural deaths. The Chief Medical Examiner and Deputy Chief Medical Examiner are licensed physicians certified by the American Board of Pathology in forensic pathology. The Office works with Assistant Deputy Medical Examiners, who serve as investigators responding death scenes,
collecting information about the circumstances of death. The Office also gathers and publishes data regarding untimely deaths, including those from drug overdoses.