Fasano Statement on Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Danger of Losing Accreditation

November 2, 2016

“Another Consequence of a Failed State Budget”

Hartford – Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven) released the following statement regarding the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner being in danger of losing full accreditation from the National Association of Medical Examiners – a result of recent budget cuts in the Democrat-approved state budget. The National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) today wrote to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner warning that “lack of appropriate funding” and “budget cuts” have resulted in deficiencies at OCME that could impact its accreditation which will be determined at its next inspection. The letter states “NAME can act by withdrawing accreditation if the criteria for accreditation are not met.” The letter also states that these deficiencies, “will result in demotion of the OCME to provisional accreditation, which is only valid for a period of one year….If the OCME then does not show a good faith attempt to correct the identified deficiencies, the office will lose its accreditation entirely.”

“This is sadly another consequence of a failed state budget and a problem that went ignored and unaddressed by those in control of the legislature. While Democrat lawmakers claim they want to make Connecticut a bioscience capital, their budget didn’t even properly fund a core and basic public health function. This just shows the lack of well thought out policies and a clear direction from Democrat lawmakers over the last six years,” said Fasano.

The fiscal year 2017 state budget cut the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office by over $338,000. Additional holdbacks issued by Governor Malloy totaled over $59,000, bringing the total cuts to $398,706.

“Democrat legislators would rather spend $300,000 on a mileage tax program they claim they will never implement than spend that money on a core public health issue. Their priorities are wrong. It’s embarrassing,” said Fasano.