A Rigorous Professional Takes to the Road

Southern California drivers are subject to so much advertising-on car radios, on billboards, splashed across trucks and cars-that most have become inured to the onslaught. But many motorists are doing double (and triple) takes when they find themselves sharing the freeway with one of three white vans emblazoned with a memorable phone number: 1-800-AUTOPSY.

The number belongs to Autopsy/Post Services, which offers private autopsies and forensic services to families, attorneys, and hospitals. Vidal Herrera, a former Los Angeles County Coroner investigator, had been retired from his job after a serious back injury, In 1988, after a long recuperation and a fruitless search for a job, he started Autopsy/Post Services.

Herrera is quick to list the many reasons someone might want to order a private autopsy. If, for example, a patient dies, unexpectedly while in the hospital, the family may not trust the ensuing autopsy procedure, so they'll call Herrera. ("You'd be surprised how often we find something wrong," he says -such as a misdiagnosis.)"

Business is booming since Herrera thought up the 800-number gimmick last year. "I kept seeing those 1-800-DENTIST and 1-800-DOCTOR ads," he says. "So I thought, why not 1-800-AUTOPSY?" To the best of his knowledge, his it the only such business in the country-and he's even been asked about franchising. Now there's a business opportunity for the 21st century.