Name: Dr. G: Medical Examiner
Genre: Documentary, Crime, Reality
Rating: 6.9
Cast: Jan Garavaglia, Jeff Colt, Joe Herrera

Jan Garavaglia

Jeff Colt

Joe Herrera

Dr. G: Medical Examiner documents cases handled by deputy chief medical examiner Dr. Jan C. Garavaglia (aka Dr. G) of Florida's District Nine Medical Examiner's Office. Each episode features two or three cases Dr. G has handled in the Orlando area, and also in Bexar County, Texas and Jacksonville, Florida where she was previously employed. Some portions of the show have been dramatized and some names have been changed to protect the dignity of individuals and their families.

Dr. G: Medical Examiner

An 82-year-old woman appears to have committed suicide by overdosing on painkillers, but Dr. G finds evidence that suggests that she may have died of an heart attack.A former homeless man is found dead in his home the morning after complaining of a headache. Dr. G must find out how he died, but the 50-year-old man has no documented medical history.A 35-year-old woman dies in her sleep, and the hospital has no answer as to why she died. Dr G. works for three months to find a cause of death for her distraught family.

Redemption

Dr. G preforms an autopsy on an alleged hit-and-run victim found in a parking lot, but finds no evidence of vehicular injury on the 41-year-old man's body. Could his alcoholism have had a role in his death?Dr. G investigates the death of a an 88-year-old woman found dead at the bottom of staircase outside her apartment building. Head trauma indicates that woman did not die of natural causes. Did she accidentally fall down the stairs or was she attacked?A man with a genetic disorder dies from a brain tumor at his 35th birthday party. His mother, who has another son with the same disorder, requests an autopsy to find out whether the tumor was linked to the genetic disorder. If so, is the brother of the victim at risk of dying in the same manner?

Hit and Run

A depressed 39-year-old man is found dead in his home after complaining that he doesn't feel well. Dr. G. rules out suicide when she finds that he died from a severe case of pneumonia, most likely the result of an immune deficiency. When his blood tests positive for HIV, his ex-wife must also be tested to see if she is HIV positive as well.A 52-year-old English tourist has a heated argument with his family and walks back to his hotel. On his way back, he collapses on the sidewalk. Dr. G's autopsy confirms that he died of a heart attack, but his family worries that the stress from the argument may have played a role in his death.A 49-year-old man calls 911 complaining of a severe headache, but the paramedics find nothing wrong with him and leave. Later, the man is found dead by his girlfriend. Dr. G works to find out how the man died, and if his death could have been prevented if he had been taken to the hospital.

Anger Management

In August of 1995, when Dr. G worked in Bexar County, Texas, a pile of human bones was found at a supposedly haunted railroad crossing. Dr. G could tell that the victim was a teenager, but could not determine the sex. A DNA test said that the victim was male, but a 12-year-old girl told authorities that the bones were her sister's and that her sister had been murdered by her abusive mother. Her claim was unable to be verified and the authorities thought she was lying. The case went unsolved. Two years later, Dr. G found that the skull matched that of the girl reported missing, but why did the DNA test come back male, and how will that affect the case against the girl's mother?A 53-year-old man doesn't show up for work, and is found dead in his apartment. A neighbor says that the man was weak and dizzy the night before. Could the man's obesity have played a role in his death?

The Mystery of the Haunted Crossing

A 94-year-old woman dies in the hospital after having a convulsion. The case becomes the business of the medical examiner's office when no one will sign her death certificate. Dr. G finds no evidence of a heart attack or stroke. Could the woman's death be related to a childhood incident where she drank lie soap, or was it a complication of her recent hip surgery?A 24-year-old man falls off his bicycle onto the street and subsequently dies. He wasn't wearing a helmet, but a witness to the accident reported that the cyclist seemed to collapse before crashing. His mother says that prior to the accident, the man was acting as if he knew he was going die. Did he die from a head injury, was his death the result of his preexisting heart condition, or could he have been engaging in high risk behaviors that his family was unaware of?A 28-year-old stripper collapses in her home and refuses to go to the hospital. Later, she is found dead in bed. Her brother reveals that the woman used be a man, but recently had a sex change. Needle marks are found on her breasts, but no drugs are found in her system. Dr. G finds that silicone leaks from the puncture marks, but the woman had no breast implants. Had the woman been injecting her breasts with silicone, and did this somehow cause her death?

The Chain of Life and Death

An infant and his two-year-old sister are found dead in a house shared by two families. At first, they are believed to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning or cold medicine overdoses. When Dr. G. examines the infant, she finds no apparent cause of death. However, when she examines the two-year-old, she finds teeth imprints on the insides of the child's mouth, indicating that someone had suffocated her. Since the girl's infant brother has no teeth, Dr. G assumes that he too was suffocated. After the police verify the alibis of all the adults living in the house, a 12-year-old girl from the other family living in the house becomes the prime suspect. At first she admits to committing the crime, but later denies it. The neighborhood is outraged that the police would accuse a child of murder, so the girl is sent to live with her grandparents. Not long after the girl moves in with her grandparents, the family dog is found dead. Dr. G must do an autopsy on the dog to find out whether it too has a been suffocated, and if that will be a significant piece of evidence in convincing a jury that the girl is guilty.A 25-year-old pregnant mother checks into a homeless shelter, and reports that she has ovarian cancer. A week later, she falls ill and dies on the way to the hospital. Dr. G first checks the woman's ovaries, but finds no evidence that the woman ever had ovarian cancer. The woman was overweight and had an enlarged heart, which meant that she was at risk of having high blood pressure and and developing blood clots. Were these risk factors what caused the young mother's untimely death?

Who Is Watching the Children?

A decomposing body is found in a pond, and a tent is found in the nearby woods. Dr. G performs the autopsy in the morgue's decomposition room, but finds few clues other than fingerprints, and mouthwash in the stomach. A wallet containing identification is found in the tent, and the fingerprints confirm the identity of the victim. According to the 39-year-old man's friends, he had a drinking problem. Had the man been consuming mouthwash to get drunk, and did this play a role in his death?After a panicked babysitter's 911 call, a 17-month-old baby is found unconscious. The baby dies on the way to the hospital. Dr. G finds evidence that the baby was asphyxiated, and the babysitter claims that the child's neck was pinned between a bed frame and a playpen in a freak accident. Dr. G sends field investigators to the babysitter's house to re-create the incident so she can compare the babysitter's story to her autopsy findings. Will the re-creation confirm the babysitter's story, or will it indicate that she may be guilty of murder?A 52-year-old English tourist has a heated argument with his family and walks back to his hotel. On his way back, he collapses on the sidewalk. Dr. G's autopsy confirms that he died of a heart attack, but his family worries that the stress from the argument may have played a role in his death.

Dark Waters

Police patrolling the night streets hear gunshots and head to the scene. They find a nude middle-aged man in parking lot lying face down in a puddle of blood. When the body reaches the morgue, Dr. G cannot find a bullet wound. When the police search the man's apartment, they find tissues soaked with blood. Could the man have coincidently died from a medical condition at the same time that unrelated gunshots were fired nearby?A 54-year-old theme park security guard calls his girlfriend from his cellular phone. His speech is slurred, and he says he is in trouble, but he cannot tell her what is wrong. Hours later, he is found dead in his car in the parking lot of the theme park where he works. The man had a history of heart trouble. Did he suffer a heart attack, or was he killed by something or someone else?While being visited by her siblings from New York, a woman finds her 31-year-old brother dead in bed. The man suffered from epilepsy, and traces of cocaine were also found in his bedroom. Did he suffer a fatal seizure, or was his death drug-related?

A Cry for Help

While in the process of adopting a five-week-old baby, a mother takes him to work with her. While there, the baby inexplicably obtains a skull fracture while unsupervised. Since the parents cannot provide an explanation as to how the injury occurred, the hospital must investigate for abuse. The baby is taken away from the parents and placed with a foster family. The family's lawyer asks Dr. G to review the evidence. Can Dr. G's professional opinion help reunite a family?Eleven months after becoming paralyzed in a car accident, a 36-year-old woman dies in the hospital. Doctors claim the cause of death was a bacterial infection, a complication from her injuries. The woman's mother strongly believes her daughter was poisoned by her husband while in the hospital. Will Dr. G's autopsy confirm the mother's suspicions, or prove that there was no foul play involved?

A Mother's Love

On a rural Texas highway, a fire is discovered in which three bodies have been burnt beyond recognition. Dr. G finds bullets in all three bodies, and determines that they were all fatally shot before being set on fire. Working together with the Texas Rangers, she must identify the victims and help to find who killed them.A 55-year-old man is dies while on a city bus. No one saw him die, so he is sent to the morgue for an autopsy. With no medical records available, Dr. G must consider all possibilities as she looks for the cause of death.

Ashes to Ashes

An employee is found dead in a restaurant kitchen. Clues found near the body include an empty cash register, a knife, a phone ripped off the wall, and a trail of blood splotches leading to a vandalized car in the parking lot. The man was well known for starting brawls, and alcohol and drug abuse. There are many possibilities as to how the man could have died, so Dr. G must do an autopsy to find exactly who or what killed him.A man dies in the hospital after taking a dangerously high amount of acetaminophen, an over-the-counter pain medication. Before dying, the man claimed that the overdose was a suicide attempt. Normally, acetaminophen overdoses do not result in death. Dr. G works to find evidence to indicate whether this was really a suicide attempt or if the man accidentally killed himself in a scam for medical attention.

Fighting for the Truth

A healthy 53-year-old woman is found dead in bed. After performing an autopsy and taking blood and tissue samples, Dr. G cannot find the cause of death. Through conversations with the woman's husband, Dr. G finds out that the woman was suffering from symptoms of a hormonal imbalance and taking over forty dietary supplements a day. Dr. G must find which, if any, of these supplements may have caused her death.After a night of drinking, a 60-year-old man leaves a friend's house on his bicycle and is later found dead in a ditch by the side of the road. It is up to Dr. G to find out whether he fell off his bike or died some other way.

Dying to be Young

A 48-year-old man is found in motel room hundreds of miles from home with his head blown off by a shotgun. Clues found in the room point to suicide, but an additional shotgun shell and blood inconsistent with the man’s wounds suggest foul play. It is up to Dr. G to piece together this puzzle. Dr. G and forensic technician Gene Conus give a tour of the morgue and explain how certain tools and procedures work. A 66-year-old man is killed in a car accident while driving to his daughter’s house. The man’s wife feels guilty since he was making the drive as a favor to her, but she suspects that his heart condition may have played a role in the crash. Dr. G works to find whether the man would have died from natural causes regardless of the injuries he received in the accident.

Death on the Road

A 43-year-old man’s ex-wife finds him face-down in a hotel bathtub on the morning that they were supposed to embark on a cruise. The ex-wife reports that the man was shivering violently before his apparent drowning. When Dr. G concludes that the man did not drown, she must delve deeper to find the real cause of death. After a night of partying, a 29-year-old man is found dead in bed by his father. A bag of pills and a bottle of liquor are found in the room, but the father insists that his son did not abuse drugs or alcohol. Will Dr. G’s findings bring piece of mind for the grieving parents?

The Mourning After

While at the apartment of a longtime friend, a 24-year-old man is shot in the head. The friend claims they were examining his gun collection when a gun was knocked off the ironing board and went off when it hit the floor. Everyone in the apartment was intoxicated at the time of the shooting. It is up to Dr. G to determine whether this was in an honest mishap or an intentional shooting. Dr. G shares professional insights about the causes of car accident fatalities including speeding, improper use of seatbelts, and intoxication. A 32-year-old man suffers a heart attack at the hospital and dies a week later. The hospital finds traces of amphetamine (also known as speed) in the man’s urine and concludes that the man’s heart attack was due to amphetamine abuse. The man’s mother claims that he would never use illegal drugs. Dr. G must find out whether drug abuse actually played a role in the man’s death.

A Shot in the Dark

A 42-year-old woman dies at a friend’s house. The woman was depressed and abusing prescription drugs. Her supply of pills was depleted when her body was found, so it seems to be a suicide attempt. Dr. G must determine whether the woman’s death was an accident or a suicide. Paramedics respond to a man’s 911 call to find his 55-year-old wife unconscious in a hotel room. The woman inexplicably dies on the way to the hospital. The woman has no medical history, but Dr. G can tell that she was not in good health. There is also a narcotic ulcer on the woman’s foot indicating a bacterial infection. Only Dr. G’s autopsy will reveal what caused the woman to die.

Prescription For Change

After a night of drinking, a 23-year-old man is found dead in a burning car in a parking garage. Since the man was not able to get out of the car, investigators hypothesize that he was dead or unconscious when the fire started. Dr. G and crime scene investigators work to find out how the man died and who or what started the fire. A 58-year-old man suffering from kidney failure dies in the hospital with his ex-wife by his side. The hospital marks the cause of death as kidney disease, but the man’s roommate claims that he was strangled by his ex-wife. Dr. G must either confirm or deny the roommate’s accusations.

Burning Questions

This episode looks at two of Dr. G’s past cases involving domestic abuse. A 30-year old man and his 35-year-old girlfriend are found dead in a car in the parking lot of a church. Both victims were stabbed to death. Dr. G’s autopsy of the female victim shows that she was brutally attacked, and the violent nature of her death suggests a crime of passion. The male victim, who was stabbed in the heart, has additional injuries that suggest suicide. Was this a murder-suicide, or was a third party involved? A 50-year-old sheriff’s deputy is shot in the head by his girlfriend. The woman claims self defense, but everyone who knew the man claims that he was not a violent person. The couple had a rocky relationship, and they had been known to threaten each other with guns. Can Dr. G determine whether or not the shooting was really self defense?

A Fatal Attraction

An overturned pickup truck is discovered by the side of the highway with a deceased 24-year-old man inside. The victim was not wearing his seatbelt, but the external trauma does not seem fatal. Dr. G expects to find serious internal injuries, but is surprised by the results of her autopsy. In the Texas desert north of the Mexican border, two men flag down a motorist and flee after leading him to the decaying body of a 20-year-old man. No suspicious items on are found on the body other than a bag of an illegal drug called dipyrone from Mexico. Other belongings found with the victim indicate that he was on a hiking trip in the desert. Dr. G must find out whether or not the man met with foul play. Also, a look at the techniques and routines of Dr. G’s medical investigators.

The Things Men Do

A 35-year-old woman is shot by her husband on a hunting trip. The husband claims it was an accident, but fatalities due to hunting accidents are statistically unlikely. Also making the man look suspicious is the fact that he and his wife were recently in marriage counseling. It’s up to Dr. G to find out whether foul play was involved. Dr. G and her co-workers speculate as to why men are more likely than women to fall victim to accidents resulting from stupidity. A 38-year-old man dies at home two weeks after suffering a severe beating. The man had numerous medical problems including alcoholism and sorosis of the liver. If the man died from complications of the beating, then his death would be considered a homicide. Dr. G must find out whether the man’s death was a result of the attack or brought about by something else.

Truth of the Matter

A 53-year-old Vietnam veteran is taken to the hospital after shooting himself in the head. Eighteen days after surviving the suicide attempt, the man is found dead in the bed at the hospital. An external examination shows that the man had constricted pupils, which means that he could have died from a drug overdose. Dr. G must open the body to see if the man made another attempt to take his own life. Three days after going on a drinking binge, a 32-year-old mother is found dead in her apartment with a white frothy fluid foaming from her mouth. The woman had also recently suffered complications from gastric bypass surgery. Dr. G must find out what caused the young mother’s untimely death.

A 27-year-old mentally challenged man collapses while eating lunch and dies soon afterwards. The family believes he choked while unsupervised, and they wonder if they could have done something to save him. Dr. G hopes to answer their question with her autopsy, and ends up finding something she has never before seen in the history of her career. After disappearing for five days, a 45-year-old man is found decomposing in his unlocked apartment. Ten years earlier, he suffered a severe back injury while doing construction work and has suffered from chronic pain ever since. He was known to abuse alcohol. Syringes, prescription painkillers, and beer bottles were found in the man’s trashcan. Did the man intentionally take his own life? Dr. G must take this body to the “Decomp Room” to get to the bottom of the case.

Paths of Destruction

A woman shoots her abusive husband and claims self-defense. The angle of the gunshot wound and other conflicting details with the woman’s story seem to suggest that she is lying. The woman is indicted and the medical investigation seems to be over. However, the case is later re-opened when witnesses claim the man was very ill near his time of death. Did the man’s wife, or possibly someone else, try to poison the man before he was shot? A 44-year-old diabetic woman is found dead and naked in the trailer of a convicted sex offender. There are no external clues to suggest that the woman was raped or murdered. Dr. G must open the body to see what caused the woman’s death. Was she murdered, did she overdose on drugs, or did she die of natural causes?

Needle in the Haystack

A 34-year-old woman is brought into the morgue with her body covered in a strange rash. She came down with the illness a week before her death and eventually died in the hospital despite being treated with antibiotics. Two weeks before the woman died, she reported being bitten by a stranger who kissed her in a bar and believed that was how she contracted the illness. With a cervical cancer relapse and chicken pox as possible culprits, Dr. G must conduct an internal examination. A 56-year-old man dies after suffering an apparent epileptic seizure in his yard. At first it seems as if the man died of Sudden Unexpected Death In Epilepsy, but Dr. G’s autopsy reveals that epilepsy was not the only condition putting the man’s health at risk.

A Lingering Question

A 39-year-old quadriplegic woman is found dead in a park over 100 feet away from her wheelchair. Marks on the ground indicate that she may have been dragged across the park. It’s up to Dr. G to determine whether the woman was a victim of foul play of if she died of something else. A 50-year-old man dies en route to the hospital. Then man was diabetic and had a bad heart, but he had recently been suffering from back and shoulder aches and a sore throat. Dr. G. must find out whether he died from a long term health problem or complications from his recent ailment.

Kiss of Death?

Dr. G tries to unravel a case in which a quadriplegic woman was found dead in a park, 150 feet away from her motorized wheelchair.

The Desperate Crossing

A young girl collapses and dies while with her family in a wave pool at a theme park, and Dr. G must determine the cause.

Dangerous Forces

Dr. G must determine whether a decomposed body found in a van was murdered, a suicide or a victim of an accidental drug overdose. Another case involves the body of a homeless man found in the back of a car.

Poison Control

A Most Terrible Tragedy

Deadly Adventure

A 12-year-old girl collapses and dies at an Orlando water park. With the case thrust into the national media, Dr. G is under pressure to determine if the girl’s death had anything to do with the nature of the rides at the amusement parks she visited.A 45-year-old widow is found dead and nude next to her ATV at her ranch outside of Orlando. The woman was known to have been a heavy drinker, and foul play is a possibility. Dr. G must get to the bottom of this woman’s unexplained death.

A Fatal Mistake

A 45-year-old construction foreman is found dead and decomposing in his van. Earlier in the week, the man had been hit in the head by a board at work. In addition to this, the man owed friends money and was reportedly a methamphetamine user. With a head injury, foul play, and drug overdose as possible culprits, Dr. G must take this case to the morgue’s decomposition room.

A homeless man is found dead and bloody in the back of his car. While removing the body, one of the medical investigators rips his glove and gets the dead man’s blood on an open cut. Not only must Dr. G find the cause of death, she must also find out whether her medical investigator is at risk of contracting a blood borne illness.

A 30-year-old woman is found dead and bruised in a drainage ditch. The woman was a recovering heroin addict, and the area she was found in was known to be popular spot for drug users. Dr. G must find out if the woman fell victim to foul play.

Deadly Consequences

A 21-year-old man arrives at his friends’ house, apparently drunk, and spends the night on the couch. The man is found dead the next morning. The man had attempted suicide multiple times in the past, and was known to abuse alcohol and Xanax. Dr. G must determine whether the man killed himself, accidentally died from a deadly combination of drugs, or died from some other cause.A hotel manager is found dead at the bottom of the stairs of his living quarters. At first it appears that the man accidentally fell, but wounds are found that could be consistent with an assault. Adding to the suspicion of investigators, the man was not popular in town. With possible evidence and motive, Dr. G must determine whether foul play was involved in the man’s death.Also, Dr. G accepts a marriage proposal from her old med-school sweetheart.

Deadly Arrest

A 45-year-old man with full blown AIDS collapses and dies in a bar a week after being treated at the hospital for a throat infection. In addition to medical problems, the man was known to abuse drugs and alcohol. Dr. G must do an autopsy to find the cause of death, and to see if the hospital missed key diagnosis that could have saved the man’s life.A 40-year-old man with kidney disease is found dead at home in a pool of blood with his wrist slashed. The case appears to be a suicide at first, but Dr. G’s examination of the wound reveals that it is a ruptured dialysis fistula.Dr. G prepares for her upcoming wedding.

On the Run

A 30-year-old man dies after being subdued by police. The man was known to abuse drugs and had been hinting at suicide. Dr. G must do an autopsy to determine whether or not the man’s death was the result of police brutality.An 18-year-old woman dies a week after having what seems to be a miscarriage. Dr. G must determine whether the woman’s death was a result of complications from the miscarriage, and if the hospital missed a key diagnosis that could have saved the woman’s life.Also, Dr. G’s wedding day finally arrives.

Old Wounds Run Deep

A 32-year-old man dies in a group home for mentally challenged adults on Thanksgiving. The man had a history of seizures. With no obvious clues, Dr. G must conduct an autopsy to rule out foul play and determine what caused the man’s untimely death.A burning car is found on the side of the road in which a body has been incinerated. The car was registered to an Irish immigrant whose visa was about to expire. With only a charred torso to work with, Dr. G must identify the victim and determine whether or not foul play was involved.

A Deadly Business

A 92-year-old man with dementia is discovered dead in his back yard the morning after an ice storm. His front door is standing open and the man has several severe cuts and bruises. Dr. G must determine whether the man fell off his patio or if he was attacked.A 55-year-old man paraplegic man dies at home a week after leaving the hospital. The man has severely infected bedsores, which are a complication of his paralysis. Because the man’s paralysis was the result of a gunshot he received in his 20’s, his death will be considered a homicide if it resulted from the bedsores. Dr. G must find out whether his death was a complication of his paralysis and therefore a homicide, or the result of natural causes.

Dangerous Speeds

Dr. G's first case as a medical examiner is profiled. In 1988 when Dr. G began working in Jacksonville, Florida, numerous decomposing bodies were found in a funeral home. Investigators believed that the funeral home director had neglected to bury bodies that he had been paid to bury. Investigators also suspected that he had been burying multiple bodies in the single coffins. After Dr. G opened four exhumed coffins and confirmed that multiple bodies had indeed been stuffed into single coffins, she had to identify the bodies as bodies the funeral director had been paid to bury and find evidence that he had treated the bodies improperly.A 56-year-old man dies suddenly and unexpectedly at home, and the hospital does not know the cause of death. The man suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder due to serving in the Vietnam war. The man had also been experiencing chest pains, which the hospital had dismissed as symptoms of panic attacks. Dr. G must do an autopsy to find out if the hospital missed a key diagnosis that could have saved the man's life.

Ticking Time Bomb

A 32-year-old man suffers a heart attack at the hospital and dies a week later. The hospital finds traces of amphetamine (also known as speed) in the man's urine and concludes that the man's heart attack was due to amphetamine abuse. The man's mother claims that he would never use illegal drugs. Dr. G must find out whether drug abuse actually played a role in the man's death.Dr. G and field investigators explain how car wreck fatalities are processed at the scene and in the morgue, and how common mistakes that cause vehicle related fatalities can be avoided.A hotel manager is found dead at the bottom of the stairs of his living quarters. At first it appears that the man accidentally fell, but wounds are found that could be consistent with an assault. Adding to the suspicion of investigators, the man was not popular in town. With possible evidence and motive, Dr. G must determine whether foul play was involved in the man's death.

Dark Secrets

A 30-year-old man collapses and dies after crashing his car into a fence. He was combative with paramedics just prior to passing out, indicating a head injury. However, Dr. G’s internal examination indicates massive internal bleeding in the abdomen, but she cannot find any trauma. Dr. G must find the cause of the bleeding, and what caused the man to crash.A 65-year-old man is found naked and decomposing at the bottom of the stairs by his landlady in his apartment. The most likely causes of death are injury and natural causes, but the man has no medical history to work with. Dr. G must start the autopsy with a blank slate.

Deadly Destination

A 29-year-old diabetic man is found dead on his couch after a night of drinking. The man often neglected his diabetes and did not like to take care of himself. Dr. G must find out whether alcohol or diabetes played a role in the man’s death.A 78-year old man is found decomposing and covered by a tarp in the house he shared with his stepson. The stepson had fled the scene when police searched the house, and drug paraphernalia was found. With many possible scenarios including neglect and foul play, Dr. G must take this case into the decomposition room to find the answer.

An 81-year-old man is found dead and decomposing in his apartment. It appears to be a natural death due to the man's age and deteriorating health, but the family discovers that man's car is missing from the garage. When the car turns up wrecked in wrecker yard, Dr. G must do an autopsy to see if the man died from injuries sustained in a car accident.A 73-year-old man from England collapses during breakfast while visiting his family in Orlando. The man's medical records are not readily available since he was traveling from abroad, and Dr. G's only lead is that the man had been experiencing abdominal pain the previous day.

A 25-year-old woman dies after breaking out in hives and becoming short of breath. The woman had been working with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort in Biloxi, Mississippi where she may have acquired an infectious disease. She also had a history of complications from insect bites. With a number of possibilities as to the cause of the woman’s mysterious illness, Dr. G must look inside the body to find the answers.A 35-year-old man is found dead by his partner just hours after threatening to commit suicide. With a history of suicide attempts, and a number of medications found at the scene, it appears that the man intentionally overdosed. Dr. G must examine the evidence from her autopsy and toxicology reports to determine whether or not the man took his own life.

Toxic Forces

A 76-year-old man disappears from a passenger train and is found unconscious by the train tracks. He dies two weeks later in the hospital. The man’s injuries are consistent with a fall from a moving train, but no one knows what caused the man to fall. Can Dr. G find the answer?A 26-year-old woman collapses and seizes while eating at a restaurant with her husband. She dies three days later in the hospital. The husband fears that his wife’s history of drug abuse may have taken its toll. Can Dr. G’s autopsy provide closure?

Derailed

A box found buried in the woods containing the body of a missing 24-year-old woman is brought in into the morgue. As evidence mounts against the woman’s abusive boyfriend, Dr. G tries to prove that the death is a homicide. However, the body’s state of decomposition makes the examination difficult.A 40-year-old transient man is found dead in bed at a halfway house. The man was last seen alive when he was given a weekly allowance. Dr. G must find out if the man’s death was attributed to foul play or an untreated medical condition.

Broken Lives

A 19-year-old female private is abducted from an air force base. A retired military officer claims to have murdered the woman and leads police to her body. Dr. G must do an autopsy to determine whether the suspect is being truthful, or making a false confession to gain attention in a high profile case.A 79-year-old woman dies at home three days after undergoing knee replacement surgery. The woman seemed healthy just prior to her death. Dr. G must find out whether or not the woman died of complications from the surgery.

Life Interrupted

A 32-year-old woman vacationing in Orlando dies unexpectedly of a mysterious illness. The woman had been coughing up blood, and experiencing chest pains. At first it seems to be a routine pulmonary embolism case, but the true cause of death will surprise Dr. G.Paramedics arrive to treat an unconscious 35-year-old female hitchhiker in a parking lot, but she dies on the way to the hospital. The man who gave her a ride reports that the woman began shivering and collapsed while they were having a beer together. Dr. G must determine what caused the woman to die, and whether or not foul play was involved.

Deadly Journeys

A 36-year-old woman experiencing inexplicable itching all over her body overdoses on antihistamines. The woman appears to be fine for a time at the hospital, but then she goes into cardiac arrest and dies. Dr. G discovers from the woman's medical history that the woman had lupus, an autoimmune disease. Dr. G tries to find out whether the overdose caused the woman's death, or if the woman died of a complication of her condition.A 50-year-old woman collapses at home and dies in the hospital. The woman had been experiencing chronic pain for years due to injuries received in a car accident. The woman experienced depression due to the pain, making suicide a possible cause of death. It's up to Dr. G to find out if the woman took her life, accidentally overdosed on her pain medication, or died in some other way.

Deadly Doses

A 75-year-old woman dies in the hospital four days after a minor car accident. The woman reported that she experienced severe pain in her neck, chest, and back just prior to crashing. Hospital tests do not find any apparent medical conditions or injuries that would have caused the woman to die. Dr. G searches for trauma and natural causes of death that the hospital may have missed.An 81-year-old man dies in the hospital while receiving medical tests to diagnose his abdominal pain. Although the man has an extensive medical history, there is no obvious cause of death. Dr. G does an autopsy to try and find a cause of death for the man's death certificate.

Twist of Fate

An anonymous tip leads to the discovery of the body of a 60-year-old man in a field. The man had a syringe in his hand and a straight razor was found under his body. The man took daily injections of insulin to treat his diabetes, but his body was found in a high crime neighborhood. Dr. G must find out whether the man's death was a homicide, suicide, accident, or natural death.A charred body is removed from the fiery wreckage of an 18-wheeler on the side of an Interstate highway. Dr. G must try to identify the driver, and find out what caused him to crash.

Shock to the System

A 12-year-old boy is found dead in his room with his karate belt wrapped around his neck. The boy had never exhibited suicidal tendencies, but he had been grounded on the weekend of his death for trying to skip school. Dr. G looks for evidence as to whether or not the boy's death was a suicide.A 55-year-old biochemist on sabbatical from Russia collapses and dies while eating lunch with colleagues. When the Russian Embassy and the FBI take interest in the man's death, Dr. G suspects that foul play may be involved.

Dangerous Games

A 71-year-old man collapses at home and is dead on arrival at the hospital. The doctor at the hospital refuses to sign the death certificate due to no apparent cause of death, so the body is sent to the morgue for an autopsy. Dr. G first suspects a cardiac death, but then discovers that the man had a toe infection and was taking antibiotics that caused adverse side effects. Because of the man's complex medical history, Dr. G decides that an autopsy is necessary to determine the cause of death.

A 25-year-old man is found dead in a motel room after a night of partying and heavy drinking with friends. The man had a history of unexplained grand mal seizures and was obese, but Dr. G suspects that the cause of death may be related to alcohol and/or cocaine use.

In the Dead of Night

A mother finds one of her infant twin daughters dead in its crib. Dr. Joshua Stephany, Dr. G's newest medical examiner, must autopsy the baby to find the cause of death, and to see if the surviving twin is at risk of dying in the same manner.A 60-year-old man is found dead in bed by his wife. At first there is no apparent cause of death, but Dr. G finds a hernia during the external exam. When Dr. G looks inside the body, she discovers that the man was not as healthy as originally thought.

Twin Terror

A 34-year-old man is stabbed in the arm by his girlfriend during an argument. The man's condition deteriorates over the next two weeks, and he dies in the hospital. The man had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, but the family suspects that the hospital was negligent, and the possibility exists that the death was the result of the stab wound. Dr. G must determine the cause of the death to see if the girlfriend, or possibly the hospital, is at fault for the man's death.A 67-year-old man is found dead on the side of a city street. Dr. G must determine whether the man met with foul play since he was found dead outside, but the morgue is understaffed on that particular day, making it difficult to get the man's medical history. Dr. G's only lead is a piece of paper found in the man's pocket prescribing a cat scan.

Deadly Lovers Quarrel

A 34-year-old man dies while on a business trip to Orlando. The man was an avid rugby player, athletic and presumed to be perfectly healthy. Two days before his death, he developed severe back pain. The man's wife reports she and her husband both received spider bites a few weeks prior, but Dr. G discovers that what the doctors thought were spider bites may have been something far more life-threatening.A 41-year-old father from California dies in a hotel room while vacationing in Orlando with his family. Earlier that day, the man had fallen ill on an amusement park ride on which two other people had previously died. Not only must Dr. G find the cause of death, she must also find out whether the man's death was linked to the amusement park ride.

Once Bitten

A dazed 34-year-old man with blood on his shirt shows up at a woman's front door, leaves, and is later found dead in the woods. The man's body is covered in scratch marks, and his car is found in a ditch nearby. Dr. G notices that the man's skin is starting to decompose and slip off, despite that he has been dead less than ten hours. Dr. G must piece the clues together to find out who or what killed the man.A 42-year-old mother collapses and dies two days after a tummy tuck operation. Dr. G must investigate multiple possibilities as to the woman's cause of death, including complications from the surgery, pain medication overdose, and natural disease.

A 62-year-old man is found in a motel parking lot with severe facial trauma, but the man has no memory of how he got it. Weeks later, he dies in the hospital. Police believe the man was bludgeoned, but Dr. G has a different theory.A 42-year-old man is found dead in bed by his wife. The man suffered from chronic facial pain, and his family fears that he may have intentionally overdosed on his pain medication. Given the man's extensive medical history and past suicide attempts, Dr. G must consider all possibilities as she searches for the cause of death.

A 60-year-old basketball coach is found dead in his house after missing a week of work. The man has a clean medical history, but Dr. G finds evidence of a well known medical condition that may have lead to the man's demise.A 54-year-old man arrives in the morgue after dying from a brain hemorrhage in the hospital. However, the cause of the brain hemorrhage remains a mystery. The man died while drunk and high on amphetamines, indicating that the hemorrhage may have been drug-related. The man's son reports that his father had been involved in bar fight prior to this death, suggesting that the hemorrhage may have been the result of an assault, and therefore a homicide. Dr. G must consider both possibilities, as well as others, as she searches for the cause of the brain hemorrhage.

In this special episode based on her book How Not to Die: Surprising Lessons on Living Longer, Safer, and Healthier, Dr. G counts down the top five reasons that people end up in the morgue, shares past cases that exemplify each cause of death, and offers tips on how to avoid dying prematurely.

How Not to Die: A Dr. G Special

A 49-year-old man, reputed for being a drunk, is found dead, hanging by his pants from a neighbor's fence. Police believe the man's death to be an accident, but Dr. G suspects foul play.A 42-year-old construction worker collapses on the job and dies. The man's coworkers report that he was feeling ill before his collapse. The man had a history of abusing drugs, and severe case of psoriasis. Dr. G suspects a drug overdose, but she soon receives an important piece of information her medical investigator that takes the case in a new direction.

A 69-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the back of the head is found slumped over the rail of a footbridge. A gun is found in found in a holster on the man's waist, and Dr. G finds multiple clues indicating that the man had fired his own gun prior to his death. Could the man have shot himself in the back of the head, or was he murdered?A 23-year-old man is found dead in his bed and covered in vomit after a night of heavy drinking. The decedent's mother reveals that the man took a prescription anxiety medication, and Dr. G suspects that the combination of the anxiety medication and the alcohol may have produced a deadly result. Will Dr. G's hypothesis prove correct?

A three-year-old boy is found dead in bed by his mother. The mother reports that two days prior, she had given her son acetaminophen for abdominal pain, and that he had been vomiting in the past twenty-four hours before his death. Dr. G suspects a natural disease, until she finds evidence indicative of abuse.A 31-year-old man collapses at his grandparents' house and later dies in the hospital. The grandparents report that their grandson had decided to mow the lawn despite not feeling well, and that he had become exhausted and collapsed afterward. The man has an extensive medical history, as well as a history of drug and alcohol use. Dr. G begins the autopsy suspecting a routine drug overdose, but what she finds is anything but routine.

A 42-year-old diabetic woman dies at home while recovering from a tooth extraction. The woman died after being treated by her sister for low blood sugar, and the sister worries that she may have made a mistake that contributed to her sister's death. However, Dr. G suspects that the death may instead have been from complications of the dental surgery.A 69-year-old woman struggling with depression is found dead in bed by her family. The woman had been healthy, and the family is worried that she may have committed suicide. Dr. G works to find the cause of death, but this proves more difficult than she anticipated.

A 39-year-old woman is found dead on the floor of her apartment by her grandmother. Despite the grandmother's account that her granddaughter did not do drugs or drink excessively, the granddaughter's medical records suggest otherwise. A pathology resident joins Dr. G for the autopsy, and together they make an unexpected discovery. A 39-year-old woman and her 48-year-old boyfriend are found dead in bed, nude. Both victims have been shot in the head, and the boyfriend has a gun in his hand. The woman was cheating on her husband, and the police suspect that the husband may have committed a double homicide and planted the gun the boyfriend's hand. It's up to Dr. G to determine who fired the gun.

Under The Knife

A 10-year-old boy is found dead on his bedroom floor. Dr. Norma Jean Farley, one of Dr. G's pathology fellows, volunteers for the case. The boy had been taking Ritalin for ADHD and he had asthma, but Dr. Farley must also rule out child abuse. When the cause of death proves elusive, Dr. Farley seeks Dr. G's help, and both doctors are shocked when the tragic cause of death is revealed. A 10-year-old girl is struck by lightning, and is subsequently left brain dead with no hope for recovery. The family makes the decision to donate their daughter's organs. Dr. G must decide if she can perform a successful investigation without the girl's vital organs.

Deadly Encounter

Two trash bags are found in a swamp containing the dismembered body of a missing 27-year-old man. The man was last seen when he left his home to collect a debt from an acquaintance. The acquaintance becomes the prime suspect, and confesses the crime to his cellmate, but denies the crime to the police. It's up to Dr. G to uncover the truth. A 55-year-old man is seemingly run over by a slow-moving van backing out of a parking lot. Dr. G finds external evidence of trauma, but no apparent internal injuries. Dr. G must take this case under the microscope to determine the cause of death.

Unlikely Suspects

A girl finds her 35-year-old father dead on the couch. The man has no medical records, but the mans family thinks that the mans well water was contaminated. A neighbor also reports that the man was coughing up blood, indicating a possible tuberculosis infection. Dr. Gs husband, an infectious disease specialist, collaborates with Dr. G on the case.

A 51-year-old man is found dead in bed. The man had been suffering from depression due to his recent divorce, and two bottles of prescription painkillers are found on the nightstand next to the bed. The family suspects that the man committed suicide. Will Dr. Gs findings confirm their worst fears?

How Not To Die

A 43-year-old man takes a nap at his parents house, and is later found dead in bed. The man had several conditions that put his health at risk, including morbidly obesity, high blood pressure, and sleep apnea. However, Dr. G is hesitant to jump to conclusions when her autopsy findings dont quite add up, so she opts to wait for the toxicology results before closing the case.

A 53-year-old woman is found dead on her couch. The woman was obese and a smoker, her son notes that she had suffered an episode of intense eye pain the day before, and Dr. G finds signs of trauma on the womans lower body. With many potential suspects, only Dr. Gs autopsy will narrow down the cause of death.

Degrees of Death

A 42-year-old waiter collapses and dies while leaving the restaurant where he works. The man was feeling ill for hours prior to his collapse, but his girlfriend reports that he was perfectly healthy. As Dr. G performs the autopsy, she finds evidence to the contrary, but the clues she finds aren't adding up. Dr. G must use both toxicology reports and microscope slides to piece together the cause of death.

A 53-year-old woman is found dead on her bathroom floor, face down in a pool of water and blood. Dr. G suspects that the woman slipped and fell, but the woman had been depressed, making suicide a possibility. However, the true cause of death proves to be more elusive than expected.

One False Move

Cruel Intentions

A diabetic woman dies a few days after undergoing a routine tooth extraction; a 69-year-old woman's death may have been a suicide.

Fearing the Worst

A 29-year-old man dies after three-day spell of nausea and vomiting. While he was still alive, the man told his sister he believed he had gotten food poisoning from a fish sandwich he had eaten four days prior to his death. Dr. G knows that deaths from food poisoning are rare, but having a read a recent press release reporting a fish poisoning outbreak, she must investigate the possibility. A 42-year-old woman sustains fatal injuries in a car accident involving a drunk driver. In order for the drunk driver to be held accountable for the woman's death, it must be confirmed that the woman was not responsible for the crash. Dr. G's role in the case is to autopsy the victim in order to investigate the possibility that the woman suffered a medical condition, such as a heart attack or stroke, that caused her to lose control of her car. By the end of the investigation, Dr. G makes an unexpected and shocking discovery.

Lethal Intake

A four-month-old baby is found dead in his crib. Not only must Dr. G find out what caused this baby's untimely death, she must also find out if the baby's twin sister is also at risk of dying in the same manner.

A 23-year-old father collapses on the floor while at home with his children. Because of the man's age and history of marijuana use, Dr G. suspects that he may have used and subsequently overdosed on harder drugs.

Deadly Remedies

A 78-year-old grandfather falls on the sidewalk while visiting his family. He seems fine at first, but he collapses and dies hours later. Dr. G's review of the background information is inconclusive, and an autopsy is needed to determine the cause of death. However, the man's family objects to an autopsy for religious reasons. Will Dr. G be able to convince the family of the importance of an autopsy, or will the man's cause of death forever remain a mystery?

A 39-year-old florist collapses and dies in her shop while meeting with clients. Given the woman's young age and lack of known medical conditions, Dr. G anticipates that this will be an unusual case.

False Impressions

A four-month-old baby is found unresponsive in his crib, and cannot be revived at the hospital. Dr. G must investigate the possibility of child abuse as she searches for the cause of death.

A 36-year-old woman has a seizure and dies on a city bus. The woman had gone to the hospital the night before, complaining of chest pain and lightheadededness, and had been diagnosed with bronchitis. Also of concern is that the woman lived in a group home for the mentally disabled. Was the woman a victim of neglect or foul play in the group home, did the hospital make a fatal misdiagnosis of her condition, or did she die from something else entirely? It's up to Dr. G to find out.

Hidden Hazards

An unidentified woman is found brutally murdered by the side of the road. In addition to pinpointing the cause of death, Dr. G must collect evidence from the body that will help investigators identify the victim, and the killer. A 41-year-old man goes out for boat ride; hours later, he is found dead at the bottom of the lake. His boat is found intact, with its engine still idling. It's up to Dr. G find out if the man simply drowned, was intoxicated, was knocked unconscious in an accident, or suffered a medical emergency.

Deadly Decisions

An 8-year-old boy dies in his sleep. The boy was on an anti-seizure medication; Dr. G finds no other clues in his medical history, but she suspects a congenital heart defect. Can she find the answers for the grieving family? A 45-year-old man is found dead on the floor his apartment, naked and covered in bruises. The man's neighbor heard crashing sounds, and the apartment appears to be ransacked. Foul play is a possibility, but the man was an alcoholic and a diabetic. Dr. G must narrow down the cause of death from a long list of possibilities.

Bruised and Battered

A 14-year-old boy falls ill, and dies after an apparent seizure. The hospital staff suspects a bacterial meningitis infection. If the hospital is correct, the boy's friends and family could also be at risk. It's up to Dr. G to find out if the hospital is correct, and if not, find the true cause of death.

A 47-year-old man goes to sleep the couch after drinking heavily, and never wakes up. The man had recently had part of his leg amputated due to gangrene. Dr. G suspects that arterial narrowing in other parts of the man's body may have played a role in his death, but she will not know for sure until the autopsy is completed.

America's Most Shocking Cases

A 6-month-old girl becomes unresponsive in her crib, and stops breathing on the way to the hospital. Dr. G knows that the cause of death in infant cases is often elusive, and the baby's recent cold is the only potential clue.

A 34-year-old man visits the hospital for severe abdominal pain, which the doctors believe is benign symptom of the man's recent cocaine binge. The man is sent home when the pain subsides, but the man falls ill and dies two days later. The man's wife claims that he has not used cocaine since the incident, and believes the hospital missed a key diagnosis. Could the wife be correct, or did her husband's cocaine habit finally catch up to him? It's up to Dr. G to find out.

Last Gasps

A 12-year-old boy is found dead at the bottom of the family pool after going for a midnight swim. While Dr. G can easily establish that the boy drowned, finding out what caused the drowning may be more difficult. The boy has a history of depression and drug use, making suicide or accidental overdose possibilities. Just when Dr. G thinks she has found the answer, a new piece of evidence surfaces that puts everything into perspective.

A 31-year-old man lying motionless on the railroad tracks is hit by a train. Did the man commit suicide, was he murdered and placed on the tracks, or did he pass out on the tracks due to alcohol abuse or a natural medical emergency? It's up to Dr. G to find out.

Deadly Silence

A 49-year-old pilot is found dead in the burning wreckage of his plane. The results of an autopsy will help the National Transportation Safety Board to determine what caused the plane to crash, so Dr. G must look for factors that may have caused pilot error, such as natural disease, drugs, or alcohol.

A 44-year-old woman is found dead in her apartment, face down in a pool of blood. Police suspect that the woman's boyfriend fatally assaulted her, but the boyfriend denies the accusations. Will Dr. G's autopsy clear the boyfriend, or confirm the police's suspicions?

Fatal Twist

A 57-year-old man visiting from Ecuador is found dead in a hotel room. Dr. G expects that the man's heart or lungs will reveal the cause of death, but she is surprised to find that the most important clue lies within the stomach.

A 23-year-old man dies the morning after his bachelor party. Given the amount of drinking that occurred, Dr. G suspects that the death is alcohol related.

A Deadly Deal

A woman survives a brutal mugging, and spirals into depression, strange behavior, and self-neglect. Five years later, at age 45, the woman dies while sitting on the couch at her brother's house. If Dr. G finds that the death is related to injuries caused by the mugging, the death will be a homicide. However, the woman's strange behavior hints at the possibilities of suicide or natural disease.

A 48–year-old man falls fifteen feet from a ladder and dies. Was this a simple accident, or could the fall have been attributed to a medical condition or drugs? It's up to Dr. G to find out.

Deadly Storms

Firefighters respond to a house fire, and discover the body of a 21-year-old woman. The fire was deliberately set, leading the police to believe that the perpetrator had murdered the woman and set the fire to destroy evidence. Dr. G must autopsy the body to find clues to the killer's identity.

A 33-year-old woman is found dead in her home, apparently having been beaten and dragged down the stairs. Circumstantial evidence points to the woman's abusive husband, but he is able to provide an alibi. It's up to Dr. G to find hard evidence on the body that links the husband to the crime.

America's Most Shocking Cases: Unthinkable

America's Most Shocking Cases: Deadly Deception

A baby with cold symptoms and a 34-year-old man with abdominal pain die following recent visits to the hospital, prompting speculation as to whether or not they were misdiagnosed.

Fatal Flaw

A drowning victim and a person hit by a train receive autopsies.

Deadly Dive

A plane crash and the discovery of a woman's body in her home intrigue Dr. G.

Deadly Descent

Disturbing Behavior

A woman's body is found amid an apartment blaze; a young woman with a restraining order filed against her husband is found dead in her home.

Evil Intent

Wounded

Hidden Killers

Playing with Fire

Deadly Bite

Deadly Circumstances

Fatal Encounters

A 32-year-old man collapses and dies at his sister's home. The man had been feeling sick for a week prior to his collapse. Dr. G has no medical records to go on, as the man did not go to the doctor, but his external appearance indicates that he was in extremely poor health. Dr. G suspects that the man's self-neglect may have played a role in his death.

A 49-year-old father is found dead in his kitchen with multiple stab wounds. The man's teenage son claims that his father stabbed himself to death, but the police suspect that the son was responsible. It's up to Dr. G to determine if the death was a suicide or a homicide.

Dr. G: Medical Examiner

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