Autopsy Specialist Takes His Services on the Road

DEATH TOLL: Postmortem freelancer sees rising population as business juncture.
Vidal Herrera's van says a lot about the man.

"1-800-AUTOPSY" is emblazoned on the side. The vanity plate reads "YSPOTUA" - that's autopsy spelled backward. And his license plate frame advises: "Autopsy techs do it with more rigor mortis."

Herrera is a freelance - and very mobile - autopsy specialist, charging $2,000 for his services, a little more if he digs up the corpse.

And in true entrepreneurial spirit, he's preparing for the bulge of baby boomers about to usher in what he calls a golden age of death: The man who is known as the rolling El Muerto ("The Dead One" in Spanish) is franchising his slicing, dicing and analyzing services nationally.

"There's 1-800-DENTIST and 1-800-FLOWERS, why not 1-800- AUTOPSY?" asked the 47-year-old owner of Los Angeles-based Autopsy/Post Services.

The former coroner's investigator arranges private autopsies on bodies from all over the world. He hires a freelance pathologist and assists with the sawing and slicing. His catalogue of services includes DNA analysis, tissue procurement, medical photography as well as trial, television and movie consulting (he was a consultant on the old "Qunicy" TV show).

A big part of his business involves retrieving brains and joints from bodies donated for medical research. He also recycles hearing aids, pacemakers and prostheses for use in Third World countries. They can't be reused in the United States.

Herrera opened shop 11 years ago, concerned about the drop in autopsies amid cuts in hospital staff and health services. Post-mortems are performed on 7 percent of hospital deaths, down from 42 percent in 1965, according to the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Herrera, who worked 20 years with the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, suspects that deaths caused by foul play or malpractice go undetected because of the nationwide decline in autopsies. In fact, he said, a quarter of all cases he does are misdiagnosed.

Contract autopsies like Herrera offers are increasing nationwide and his fee is less than the county coroner's office would charge for a private autopsy. Herrera expects to perform at least 800 this year and is about to sell franchises for $30,000 each (not including $45,000 in equipment) in 72 American cities and 16 countries.

"We believe, and state in our motto, mortis praesdium et vocem dare necessee est - the deceased must be protected and given a voice." he said. "We fulfill that goal by allowing otherwise hidden information to come to light, even though the deceased can no longer speak for themselves."

Saws, scalpels, specimen bottles, gut bucket and an Igloo ice chest for transporting brains are the tools of his trade. The Chevrolet van also has a fax machine and cellular telephone.

But Herrera's mobile service doesn't include corpse transport. He hires a first-call transport service to move the dead to mortuaries for autopsy. That changes soon, however, with the opening of his 2,500 square foot autopsy center in Tujunga a few miles from his foothill home.

"I'm always ready to do an autopsy." he said, adding he works seven days a week 23 1/2 a day. "We need 30 minutes of meditation a day."

A minimum two hours is needed to perform most autopsies, although some can last up to 14 hours.

"We've had to rest and come back the next day," Herrera said.

Plummeting numbers of autopsies and the aging of baby boomers mean Herrera's business is set to expand.

Census figures show that 79 million people age 65 or older will live in the United States by 2050, up 150 percent from 1990.

This is a recession-proof business," he said.