26:6B-18 Medical Examiner Review Team.

18. a. The Medical Examiner Review Team shall be established as a mechanism for peer review and collaboration and to provide recourse in the event of a dispute between medical examiners.

b. The Medical Examiner Review Team shall include nine members, as follows:

(1) the commissioner, the Commissioner of Human Services, the Attorney General, and the Chief State Medical Examiner, or their designees, who shall serve ex officio;

(2) the Chair of the Department of Pathology from one of the medical schools or colleges or osteopathic medical schools or colleges in New Jersey, to be appointed by the Governor; and

(3) one public member, to be appointed by the Governor, who shall be certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology or the American Osteopathic Board of Pathology; and

(4) three public members, to be appointed by the Governor, who shall be representatives of the public health, hospital, and medical communities, respectively.

c. The Medical Examiner Review Team shall review the following matters, and shall issue a recommendation for further action or resolution in each case upon completion of its review:

(1) disputed medicolegal death investigation findings that are the subject of a dispute between the Chief State Medical Examiner and any county or intercounty medical examiner, when referred by any such medical examiner to the commissioner with a complete statement as to the basis of the referral; and

(2) any removal of the Chief State Medical Examiner by the Governor, as well as any removal of a county or intercounty medical examiner by the Chief State Medical Examiner, except that the Chief State Medical Examiner shall be required to recuse himself from any deliberations or other actions by the Medical Examiner Review Team concerning any removal of him by the Governor.

d. The Medical Examiner Review Team shall meet at least once annually and shall meet within 45 days after receiving a report of a dispute, or after receiving notification of a removal from office, as provided in this section.

e. The Medical Examiner Review Team shall elect one of its members as chairman, who shall serve for a term of two years.

f. Of the public members of the Medical Examiner Review Team first appointed, two shall be appointed for a term of three years and one for a term of two years. Thereafter, members shall be appointed for terms of three years. The public members shall be eligible for reappointment and shall serve until the appointment and qualification of their successors.

g. Vacancies in the Medical Examiner Review Team shall be filled for the unexpired terms in the same manner as the original appointments were made.

h. The members of the Medical Examiner Review Team shall not receive any compensation, but shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the team for its purpose.

i. The department shall provide such staff and other support as the Medical Examiner Review Team deems necessary to perform its duties.

L.2018, c.62, s.18.