Province gets new chief medical examiner

Dr. Nebojsa (Nash) Denic says his office will implement recommended changes

Dr. Nebojsa (Nash) Denic is the province’s new chief medical examiner, taking the place of the retiring Dr. Simon Avis.

Denic will assume the role on March 1, once Avis’s retirement is official.

Denic has served as the deputy chief medical examiner, as well as a forensic pathologist with the office of the chief medical examiner since 1999. He is also currently the chief of laboratory medicine with Eastern Health.

Denic, who started his career as a pathologist in 1984, is in for a busy time as head of his office – but he says he’s ready.

“I’m going from one busy life to another busy life. Obviously, there are new challenges, but I’m pretty much familiar with the challenges, the expectations, of the job,” said Denic.

A report completed in June 2017 into the operations of the office of the chief medical examiner showed a number of problems facing the office, largely due to a lack of resources.

The report was commissioned after evidence was lost related to the death of Matthew Rich, a four-month-old baby who died suddenly from a serious head injury in October 2013. It was later revealed that the infant’s brain had been thrown out, likely with other medical waste.

As deputy to Avis, Denic was the only person on-call to give Avis time off.

According to the report, from January 2009 to March 2016, Avis took a total of 1,296 cases. Denic took 301.

Now, that case load will be on Denic’s shoulders.

But Denic says work has begun to implement the changes asked for in the report, including hiring more staff.

“There’s a large number of recommendations. I think our office did welcome all of them,” he said.

“I’m very optimistic that with the large number of recommendations, we’re going to be able to fulfil them within the next year.”

Currently, the office is located in the basement of the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s. The report notes the physical location of the laboratory poses a confidentiality risk, as it is located near a busy hallway.

Denic says options are being considered to change the location of the office.

“There’s planning being done for the laboratory in Eastern Health, including the office of the chief medical examiner. The outside agency is being recruited and we’re already seeing a couple of the possibilities go to us for the new space for the OCME,” he said.

“We are still here in the basement. One of the proposals is still to stay in the basement, but to expand into one of the areas of the footprint of the Health Sciences Centre.”

The office of the chief medical examiner is responsible for conducting autopsies and being the first to investigate suspicious deaths in the province. Denic says the work is essential to carry out justice in the province.

“It’s crucial for public safety. It’s the implementation of the medical science into the law. It is crucial that this office have strong appreciation within the public and the government,” he said.

“As we can see now with all the recommendations, government, especially the current minister, is very keen to see strength in this office.”