Forensic medicine (in some countries also legal medicine) is a medical speci alty that uses information from broadly understood medical knowledge and related natural sciences for the purposes of law and justice. A forensic doctor, incl. determines the causes and mechanism of death, the circumstances of death, examines traces and material evidence. He also deals with jurisprudence in criminal and civil cases and paternity determination. Find out what else he does in forensics.
Forensic medicineis a medical speci alty dealing with issues in the area of life and death in the light of the law.Forensicsis closely related toforensicsand uses knowledge in the field of broadly understood medical sciences as well as nature and biology.
The origins of forensic medicine date back to 44 BCE, when the first documented post-mortem recorded by Suetonisha took place. The Italian Paolo Zacchia, the author of "Questiones medicolegales" (1621), is considered to be the father of forensics.
Nowadays, forensic medicine is called legal medicine in some countries, it is an extremely developed branch of medicine, which draws its knowledge from fields with various speci alties.
Contents:
- What does forensic medicine do?
- What are the areas of forensic medicine?
- What is the job of a forensic doctor?
What does forensic medicine do?
Forensic medicine deals primarily with determining the causes and mechanisms of sudden death. It also investigates injuries and injuries sustained before or after death.
Forensic medicine uses knowledge of biological and medical sciences in a criminal trial, e.g. post-mortem examination, forensic examination.
In addition to physical damage, it also focuses on chemical changes, including detecting poisons, alcohol and drugs in the body. Research causes and time of death.
This science is also used in matters aimed at establishing paternity. A forensic specialist is the so-called forensic doctor.
What are the areas of forensic medicine?
Due to the wide scope of research, forensic medicine consists of knowledge in the field of thanatology, txicology, traumatology andserohematology.
- thanatology - it is the broadly understood science of death, which combines issues in the field of biology and medicine, describing and defining the phenomenon of death, and philosophical issues that allow us to understand the essence of death. Thanatology focuses primarily on human life, therefore the basis of its research is the analysis of the entire dying process and the search for its cause, as well as changes in the body during the dying process and after death. Thanatology describes dying as a complex process of agony, clinical death, and biological death.
- toxicology - this is a field that uses knowledge primarily in the field of biology, chemistry, medicine, pharmacology and veterinary medicine. Toxicology studies the influence and effects of poisons on the body. He also studies the chemical structure of substances and their impact on the environment. He also deals with their detection and identification in the genetic material.
- traumatology - it is a trauma surgery closely related to orthopedics and orthopedics. The area of traumatology research covers the diagnosis and treatment of defects, diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system. In forensic medicine, it is used to examine injuries of bones, joints, ligaments and muscles.
- serohematology - it is a branch of medicine that precisely examines the genetic material in terms of blood diseases, the hematopoietic system, the presence of antigens and antibodies.
What is the job of a forensic doctor?
A forensic doctor deals with the autopsy diagnostics of the corpses of people who died in all types of death, incl. natural, clinical, disease, sudden, violent (suicide, murder, accident).
A forensic doctor, in order to determine the cause of death, performs a number of specialist examinations, including laboratory tests (chemical-toxicological tests, blood tests, tests of cerebrospinal fluid, eyeball fluid, etc.) and pathomorphological tests. Blood, saliva, semen and tissues are collected for laboratory tests.
When performing an autopsy, the forensic doctor is obliged to inspect and open three body cavities: the skull cavity, the abdominal cavity and the chest cavity.
The main tasks of a forensic doctor include:
- stating the causes of death and the circumstances of death
- identification of people, bodies and human remains
- conducting visual inspection and autopsy in the event of death
- downloading materials for diagnostic tests from the crime sceneor during the section
- presence during the exhumation of the bodies and conducting their autopsy
- carrying out toxicological tests (poisoning, overdosing, presence of chemicals)
- hemogenetic research - hemogenetics is the study of the variability and inheritance of polymorphic markers (features) of blood and other human tissues. In forensics, these genetically determined traits are used to establish controversial paternity and maternity, to test the degree of kinship and to identify individuals
- medical opinions in criminal and civil proceedings as well as in cases related to medical malpractice
- knowledge of basic legal provisions concerning crimes against life or he alth
The forensic medical section is obligatory in case of suspicion of committing a crime. If the prosecutor issues a decision on it, the forensic doctor conducts it in the presence of the prosecutor or judge.
About the authorWeronika RumińskaA graduate of Polish philology with an editorial and publishing specialization at the University of Warsaw. She developed her interests related to the editor's work already during her master's studies, actively cooperating with Poradnikzdrowie.pl on the editorial path and social media. Privately, a lover of good crime fiction and horse riding.Read more articles from this author