Carbon County coroner Robert W. Miller Jr. recently released his report of statistics for 2017.

Miller reported that his office handled 465 cases through the year with the following highlights:

• There were 41 deaths classified as accidental, of these 28 were drug-related.

• There were 12 deaths classified as suicides.

• There were a total of eight deaths attributed to motor vehicle accidents.

• There were two deaths classified as drowning and two from fires.

• During the year, 88 percent of the dispositions were authorized for cremation.

• During the year there were also 130 hospice cases which are not considered a coroner case.

Miller said the year was another challenging one for his office. He said, for example, expenditures for autopsies and toxicology testing have increased significantly.

On the positive side, Miller stated, he is proud of the fact that he has a dedicated and experienced group working for his office. He noted that six of the nine coroners in his office are certified in medicolegal death investigation procedures as adopted by the state Attorney General’s office. He said the three remaining individuals will be certified this year.

Miller also thanked the various agencies that assisted his office through the year including local and state police, district attorney’s office, EMS associations, fire companies and county hospital staffs.