Omalu says he, Parson willing to withdraw resignations

STOCKTON — Dr. Bennet Omalu said today that he and Dr. Susan Parson are willing to withdraw their resignations if San Joaquin County agrees to separate the Coroner’s Office from the Sheriff’s Office.

Omalu, the county’s chief medical examiner, and Parson, a forensic pathologist, submitted their resignations in the past two weeks, alleging interference by Sheriff-Coroner Steve Moore in the doctors’ death investigations.

“The Sheriff does whatever he feels like doing as the coroner, in total disregard of bioethics and standards of practice of medicine ...” Omalu wrote, in part, in 113 pages of documents released this week in which he and Parson detail their complaints over Moore’s handling of his Coroner duties.

Only 17 of California’s 58 counties have separated their Sheriff ’s and Coroner’s offices. Santa Clara County made the change in 2016 after problems similar to those alleged by Omalu and Parson.

The Board of Supervisors is the governmental body that has the authority to separate the Sheriff’s and Coroner’s offices in San Joaquin County.

Omalu is known best for his groundbreaking research into the long-term effects of football concussions in the National Football League. His resignation does not take effect until early March, and Parson’s takes effect in late February.