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