The physician performing the autopsy is solely responsible for determining the exact cause of death. It plays a supporting role, but no less important, in gathering all kinds of information to achieve the remaining objectives, since the investigator (IO) is primarily responsible for answering these questions. AUTOPSY. After death; as a post-mortem examination, is an examination of a corpse to determine the cause of death; An autopsy of the Inquisition is performed by the coroner. Autopsy, which literally means the self-study of a corpse, is performed for clinical and forensic purposes. Clinical autopsy, loosely called pathological autopsy, is performed to diagnose the disease that caused mortality when ante-mortem efforts failed. Often a clinical autopsy is performed, although the cause of death ante mortem has been established in order to study the process of the disease in situ, thus enriching medical knowledge. Forensic autopsy (ML) is performed for the purpose of providing answers to questions about identity, cause of death, time of death, circumstances of death, etc., helping law enforcement agencies solve the crime. Although the procedure for both autopsies is the same, they differ from each other in many ways. Usually, the clinical autopsy is performed by the pathologist and the ML autopsy is performed by a forensic expert. However, in cases, especially when setting up the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), the pathologist may need to perform an ML autopsy.
On the other hand, an autopsy started by a forensic expert like an ML autopsy can turn out to be a purely clinical autopsy, such as: Sudden death case. Since the prosector is the legal guardian of the material collected during the autopsy, he will be held responsible if it is handled by someone. Therefore, he must keep the bottles sealed with the material under his personal care. Often, the autopsy of ML must be performed in places where there are no or few facilities available. On-site autopsies are common after exhumation for coarsely decomposed corpses. Moving such corpses to a morgue is not only inconvenient, but perhaps impossible. The prosector cannot refuse to perform an autopsy ml due to a lack of appropriate infrastructure. “Post mortem.” Merriam-Webster.com Legal Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/legal/post%20mortem. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
Determine the type of illness that caused death when ante-mortem efforts failed. The complete corpse is available to the pathologist for a clinical autopsy. On the other hand, ML autopsy is often performed on coarsely decomposed bodies or mutilated body remains. In addition, a fully skeletonized body or only a few bones can be provided by IO for autopsy for autopsy. Consent of the next of kin or close relatives, indicating the scope of the autopsy and the collection of material for each examination. The current practice in the armed forces of collecting documents for investigations as part of consent to autopsy is not legally defensible. The consent thus obtained is provided to the prosector by the hospital administrator with the letter ordering the autopsy. Post-mortem publicity rights refer to the rules that govern the commercial use of one`s name, likeness, or other recognizable aspects of oneself after one`s death. Before starting a medico-legal autopsy, the doctor must be in possession of the following documents: The autopsy procedure is essentially the same as for the clinical autopsy. All medico-legal autopsies are complete autopsies. Therefore, in any case, a thorough external and internal examination of all organs is carried out.
The exceptions are the spine and spinal cord. Since their examination is heavy and time-consuming, they are used only when necessary, for example, in case of head injuries, hangings, spinal injuries, etc. In most cases, the cause of death is determined by a thorough external and internal examination on the autopsy table itself. As a result, the forensic expert rarely uses histopathological examinations to determine the cause of death. However, it relies on toxicological studies conducted by the State Forensic Scientific Laboratory to qualitatively and quantitatively estimate toxins in body tissues. In such cases, the opinion on the cause of death is reserved until the results of post-mortem laboratory tests for correlation and interpretation are available. Thus, on many occasions, the prosector depends on other agencies to give an opinion on the cause of death. A medically legal death is one that is neither natural nor doubtful.
As a saying, all unsupervised, undiagnosed, unidentified and unnatural deaths are considered medically legal and the police must be informed by the doctor in accordance with § 39 Cr PC. Since any death in the operating room, delivery room, during the postoperative period during/after invasive procedures can raise doubts in the minds of loved ones and the public, all such deaths should be considered medico-legal [3]. The criteria for determining whether to perform a clinical autopsy or an ML autopsy in the given circumstances are clear. Nevertheless, doubts can arise on many occasions, for example, a patient hospitalized due to illness dies in the hospital after a fall from the bed that had led to a head injury. Only an autopsy can reveal the cause of death. In such cases, death is declared legal for medico and an ML autopsy is performed. If a head injury is excluded as a cause of death, it is preferable for the forensic expert to consult the pathologist and give him the autopsy, as he is the best person to perform a clinical autopsy. The opposite can also happen.
If the prosector (pathologist) receives evidence or doubts about a bad game during a clinical autopsy, such as a fracture of the laryngeal cartilage, he or she should consult with the forensic expert, as he or she is the best person to face cross-examination in the courtroom. Therefore, the forensic expert and pathologist must have adequate knowledge of post-mortem outcomes in both natural and non-natural deaths. Official letter from the commander of the military hospital to the prosector asking him to perform the autopsy. The Commanding Officer is authorized to order a clinical autopsy [1]. It is imperative that the order be made in writing in order to avoid future legal complications for the prosector. The hospital authority must ensure that the death is not medically legal before ordering the clinical autopsy. From Latin, after death. Usually mentioned in wills, estates or tax matters. For example, post-mortem tax planning refers to tax planning that occurs after a person`s death. This article not only aims to raise awareness among AFMS physicians, especially pathologists and hospital administrators, about some essential aspects of ml autopsy, but also compares and highlights the administrative and technical differences between clinical autopsy and medico-legal autopsy. Post-mortem tax planning involves creating a plan to reduce the tax payable to the estate and its beneficiaries after the testator`s death. The medico-legal autopsy is performed as part of the examination procedure if it is ordered by the authority investigating DEATHS by ML.
The investigating authority is generally civilian (police/magistrate), but military investigations are conducted in areas where no civilian administrative body is available to conduct the investigation (2). According to § 174, Cr PC, the investigating authority may request any medically approved or medically qualified physician to perform a DE ML autopsy. However, it is addressed to a doctor who is employed in the state health services from the level of the primary health center to the forensic department of a state medical school.
