Autopsy An autopsy , also known as a full postmortem or postmortem analysis , was a medical procedure performed on a cadaver to determine cause of death and other information . Generally performed by a coroner or medical examiner , the findings from an autopsy were detailed in an autopsy report . In 2153 , Captain Jonathan Archer ordered Doctor Phlox to perform an autopsy on a Xindi - Reptilian that had committed suicide after being captured while retrieving Rajiin from . ( ) In 2154 , after the " Enterprise " encountered a crashed ship of dead Xindi - Insectoid s , Archer wanted a complete autopsy from Phlox . The autopsy revealed that they had died not from the crash , but rather from suffocation after they transferred life support to their hatchery to save their children . ( ) Shortly thereafter , T ' Pol had a nightmare in which she and members of the " Enterprise " crew were watching the film " Appointment with Danger " . In the nightmare , Phlox did not truly believe that one of the characters in the film , a detective with a bow tie , had perished in a house fire since " the autopsy was inconclusive " . ( ) Autopsies were conducted on the nine crew members of the who were killed after the starship attempted to cross the galactic barrier . The results showed each crew member suffered neural damage , effectively " burning out " an area of the brain . This report was delivered to Captain James T . Kirk by Doctor Elizabeth Dehner . ( ) In 2266 , Doctor Leonard McCoy performed an autopsy on Crewman Darnell . After an inconclusive result with the first autopsy , Captain Kirk ordered a second autopsy . Based on the findings of this autopsy , Dr . McCoy concluded that the crewman ' s body had been drained of salt , which lead to his death . This finding contradicted a story told by Nancy Crater that Darnell had unwillingly poisoned himself with an alkaloid poison found in the borgia plant . ( ) In 2267 , Captain Kirk ordered Doctor McCoy to perform an autopsy on Thelev , whom Kirk had just been forced to kill . The autopsy revealed that Thelev was not an Andorian as he appeared , but was in fact an Orion . ( ) In 2268 , McCoy told a Romulan - ized Kirk that he was lucky that the doctor didn ' t perform an autopsy on the supposedly dead Kirk . ( ) In 2369 , Doctor Beverly Crusher asked Captain Jean - Luc Picard to persuade Ambassador Ves Alkar to allow her to perform an autopsy on Sev Maylor , having rejected Crusher ' s initial request to do so under the claim that Lumerian custom forbids it . Although Picard initially refused since there was no proof that whatever had killed Maylor could after the crew of the , he permitted Crusher to proceed after Deanna Troi began to suffer the same symptoms as Maylor . ( ) Later that year , on Deep Space 9 , Ty Kajada requested that Doctor Julian Bashir perform an autopsy on Rao Vantika to ensure that he was dead . ( ) Doctor Bashir performed an autopsy on the Klingon first officer Hon - Tihl and noted that the membrane permeability of the columnar cell s in his brain stem were off . ( ) Also in 2369 , aboard the " Enterprise " - D , Doctor Crusher wished to do an autopsy on Ferengi doctor Reyga to prove her suspicion that Reyga was murdered . However , Reyga ' s family demanded that the body not be violated before they can perform the Ferengi death ritual . Despite this , and against the orders of Captain Picard , Dr . Crusher performed the autopsy . Although she initially found no evidence of foul play , further investigation proved Jo ' Bril guilty of murder . ( ) Doctor Bashir was about to perform an autopsy on Vedek Bareil Antos in 2371 after the Vedek was injured in a shuttle accident . The autopsy was delayed , however , when it was found that his nerves were still transmitting signals to his brain . Bareil died shortly thereafter . ( ) Kes , at the beginning of her studies to become a nurse , told The Doctor that she would be interested in observing an autopsy . ( ) That same year , Chief Miles O ' Brien was transported several hours into the future where he learned from Doctor Bashir that he had died from radiation affecting the basilar arteries in O ' Brien ' s brain stem , information Bashir had acquired through an autopsy on O ' Brien . Bashir offered to share the dead O ' Brien ' s autopsy results with the O ' Brien from the past , but the chief quickly refused . ( ) The Doctor claimed he could quote autopsy report s from duel s between jealous love rs as far back as 1538 . He noted this to Kes , whom he believed was interested in autopsies . ( )