He has been a medical examiner for forty-five years and has performed over 20,000 autopsies. He has held professorial teaching appointments at Albert Einstein Medical School, Albany Medical College, New York University School of Medicine, New York Law School, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He has consulted with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Veteran’s Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Drug Enforcement Agency and the United States Department of Justice.

In addition to the numerous high-profile cases Dr. Baden has examined and investigated, he has also taught homicide courses for police, judges, attorneys, and physicians all over the globe. Dr. Baden has also served as President of the Society of Medical Jurisprudence and Vice President of the American Academy of Forensic Science. He was the host of the HBO “Autopsy” series for thirteen years, which demonstrated how the various forensic sciences assist in solving crimes, and was a consultant for the “Crossing Jordan” television series. He has been the author or co-author of more than 80 professional articles and books on aspects of forensic medicine and two popular non-fiction books, “Unnatural Death, Confessions of a Medical Examiner” and “Dead Reckoning, the New Science of Catching Killers.” He is also the author, with his wife, attorney Linda Kenney Baden, of two recent forensic thrillers, “Remains Silent” and “Skeleton Justice.” He is the Forensic Science Contributor for FOX News Channel and is a reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine.

INVESTIGATE THE MECHANISM OF INJURY: Trust your gut! If it feels off, take a closer look and consider the question of “how” an injury occurred. Take a closer look, secure the medical records, and review the details of how the injury took place. What was communicated to the medical provider? Does this make logical sense with the accident description?

EXAMINE ALL THINGS MEDICAL:

  • Medical diagnosis: Secure the medical records as soon as possible immediately following the work injury. Where did the injured worker receive medical treatment post-injury? Determine where medical care was secured and the names of the medical providers who rendered treatment in order to secure factual information surrounding the injury.
  • Medical providers: Do the medical providers who rendered treatment have a background in occupational injuries? Do they understand causation and return-to-work? It is important to determine if further education is needed for the physicians to understand workers’ compensation issues.
  • Secure prior medical records: Do comorbid conditions exist? Are their prior injures to the current body part? Are their prior injuries to nearby body locations which lead to believe the injury may not be new?

REVIEW ALL DIAGNOSTIC TESTS AND STUDIES: Reviewing the reports from medical studies can provide insight into the origin of an injury and can help medical providers establish a timeline. Examples of this include injuries to the upper extremities, shoulder areas and cervical spine.  A review of EMGs, CT scans and MRI can narrow the point of injury and its origin.


SECURE ALL RELEVANT INFORMATION: Job insights, video from the injury, witness statements. Record someone doing the job so the treating physician can review the actual tasks the injured worker performs on a regular basis and/or provide a thorough, detailed job description.


PAY ATTENTION TO PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES: What else is going on in the injured worker’s life? When did they start working for the company? Are there other matters that could be affiliated with the injury? Is this a long-time employee or a new hire? What other issues could be going on at work? At home? Added stressors?