Medical examiner: Pine County had 253 deaths in 2025; drug-related accident deaths fell

Dr. Aequin Piper, chief medical examiner with the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office, told the Pine County Board that 253 deaths were reported to her office from the county in 2025 and that the office assumed jurisdiction or signed the death certificate in 38 of those cases. "Of those, we only had to assume jurisdiction or sign the death certificate for 38," Piper said during her presentation.

Piper said there were no deaths classified as homicide or undetermined in Pine County for 2025. She reported 17 accidental deaths, 13 natural deaths that required her office's involvement and eight suicides. She highlighted a decline in accidental deaths tied to drugs and substance abuse, noting only two such cases in Pine County in 2025, down from earlier years. "Of the accidents, only 2 were classified as due to drugs or substance abuse, which is a significant decrease," she said.

Board members asked procedural questions about how deaths are referred to the medical examiner. Piper cited state reporting rules and specifically referenced statute 390.11 as the list of death types that must be reported to the medical examiner. She explained the office's internal decision process for whether to sign a death certificate or to perform an autopsy and said routine death certificates without toxicology generally take 7 to 14 days; cases that require toxicology typically take about a month.

Piper also described the office's broader jurisdiction and caseload: the Midwest office serves more than 39 Minnesota counties and some counties in neighboring states. Board members thanked Piper for the summary; no formal board action was taken on the report.

The board's next business item was the budget overview scheduled for the afternoon meeting.