The reports filed by the ex-medical examiner who testified on behalf of Derek Chauvin at the murder trial of George Floyd are under investigation by the state of Maryland. Dr. David Fowler was one of the key witnesses for the defense and took to the stand to claim that Chauvin wasn’t responsible for Floyd’s death and that instead, Floyd’s underlying heart disease is what killed him. Now, authorities are performing an independent review of reports on deaths Fowler filed while serving as Maryland’s chief medical examiner from 2002 to 2019.
- Dr. Fowler clearly isn’t concerned with facts. The Hennepin County medical examiner ruled that George Floyd’s death was a homicide, but Dr. Fowler disagreed, claiming that his cause of death should be classed as “undetermined.” Washington, D.C.’s former chief medical examiner Dr. Roger Mitchell Jr. was pretty alarmed by that kind of testimony, so he called for an investigation into Fowler’s medical license and his previous cases in an open letter that was signed by 458 physicians, according to NPR.
- Fowler’s assertions in court were questionable at best. Those who signed the letter took issue with Fowler’s suggestion that carbon monoxide exposure could have contributed to Floyd’s death, saying that it was “baseless, revealed obvious bias, and raised malpractice concerns.” Not only that, but his belief that Floyd’s death should be classified as “undetermined” did not obey the standard conventions for investigating and certifying in-custody deaths. If this was the case for Floyd’s case, how did he treat his previous cases?
- The office of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh agrees with the need for an investigation. Frosh has offered to coordinate the independent investigation into Dr. Fowler’s previous cases and Gov. Larry Hogan’s office will also attempt to find experts to serve in the workgroup. Bruce Goldfarb from the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said in a statement that it is “committed to transparency and will cooperate with any inquiry.”
- Dr. Fowler claims he’s cool with the investigation. He defended his background to the Baltimore Sun, saying that he doesn’t decide autopsy conclusions on his own and that a huge team of forensic pathologists are also involved. As for the potential review, Fowler simply said: “People need to do what they need to do.” He told the Washington Post in a statement: “I stand behind the outstanding work that all of our dedicated staff at the Maryland State Medical Examiner’s Office performed during my tenure as the Chief ME.”
- People who signed the letter are worried about a “pattern of bias in practice.” Dr. Fowler’s involvement in the case of 19-year-old Anton Black, who died in police custody in Maryland in 2018, raised extra questions about his ethics. Video showed officers using a taser on Black and pinning him to the ground until he stopped breathing. However, Fowler ruled his death accidental and claimed he had a heart condition and bipolar disorder that contributed to his death.
