On Friday, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and Governor Larry Hogan announced an independent review into all cases of in-custody deaths handled by Fowler.
The announcement comes after Fowler served as a controversial defense witness for Chauvin before the officer was convicted Tuesday on
three counts of murdering Floyd.
During the trial, Fowler testified that he believed Floyd died in Chauvin's custody due to a sudden cardiac event caused by an underlying heart disease. Fowler cited multiple possible contributing factors to his death, such as drugs in his system and a potential exposure to carbon monoxide from vehicle exhaust.
Fowler argued that the manner of Floyd's death should be thus classified as "undetermined," despite testimony from numerous experts [....]
Dr. Roger Mitchell Jr., wrote an open letter calling for investigations into Fowler's medical license, along with a review of all past cases handled by Fowler during his career in Maryland, NPR reported.
"Dr. Fowler's stated opinion that George Floyd's death during active police restraint should be certified with an 'undetermined' manner is outside the standard practice and conventions for investigating and certification of in-custody deaths. This stated opinion raises significant concerns for his previous practice and management," the letter said.
The letter added that Fowler's testimony was "baseless, revealed obvious bias, and raised malpractice concerns," and stated: "Our disagreement with Dr. Fowler is not a matter of opinion. Our disagreement with Dr. Fowler is a matter of ethics."
The letter was sent to Frosh's office and signed by over 450 doctors from around the country, prompting the attorney general to announce an independent review of Fowler's work less than 24 hours later.
"We agree that it is appropriate for independent experts to review reports issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) regarding deaths in custody," Raquel Coombs, a spokeswoman for Frosh, said in statement to the Associated Press.
Fowler has since been scrutinized for ruling the deaths of several Black victims at the hands of Maryland police to be from "natural causes," including those of
Anton Black and Tyrone West.
[....]
On Friday, Fowler defended his office's work to
The Baltimore Sun, and noted that he was not solely responsible for autopsy conclusions.
"There's a large team of forensic pathologists, with layers of supervision, and those medical examiners always did tremendous work," Fowler said Friday, while declining to discuss the Chauvin trial.
Newsweek contacted the Maryland attorney general's office for additional comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
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