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Medical examiner reports sharper caseload and stronger drug concentrations, seeks PTSD benefits and testing support
Summary
Cowlitz County’s medical examiner said the office saw 73 more jurisdictional cases in 2025 than in 2024, described heavier call volume and higher toxic drug concentrations, reported new in‑office quantitative testing and noted reimbursement limits and pending state legislation affecting coroners.
Dana, the county medical examiner/coroner, told commissioners the office’s workload has grown sharply and the nature of drug deaths is changing. "We had 73 more in '25 than we did in '24, which is a lot," Dana said, and added: "This year alone, we've already had 80 calls out just from the first of the year."
Dana broke the caseload into categories and numbers: accidents rose (115 in 2025 vs. 94 in 2024), drug‑related overdoses fell modestly (51 in 2025 versus 62 in 2024), and motor‑vehicle crashes with drug or alcohol involvement accounted for multiple fatalities (8 of 17 examined in one…
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