The coroner's inquest.

To assuage some of the paranoia about coroners' powers it should be remembered that the coroner has no powers save those necessary in the investigation of circumstances of a particular death. In particular: (a) He can make no effective ruling as to the steps any doctor should take in relation to any patient before death-even where that death, when it occurs, will fall within the coroner's jurisdiction; (b) He may indicate-as anyone else may-the type of deaths which he wishes to be reported to him-for example all deaths within 24 h of any operation, but there is no legal requirement upon anyone to comply with such a request