Banwari Meel
Department Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha 5117 Tel: 047 502 2961, Cell: 0822007460.
Afr Health Sci. 2017 Dec;17(4):1246-1249. doi: 10.4314/ahs.v17i4.36.
The quality of autopsies is always questioned in courts, especially in developing countries. Wrong decisions or misjudgments are undesirable in medicine, but they are very dangerous in forensic medicine. If a wrong opinion is given, either a culprit can be acquitted or an innocent person can be sentenced. Therefore, an expert opinion is always required before the announcement of a judgment.
To highlight the problem of accuracy in determining the cause of death in forensic autopsy.
A 19- year old young adult male (Mr E), who had a history of alcohol abuse, was brought to a hospital casualty department by police, on an allegation of theft. He was unconscious and died within two hours of arrival. A post-mortem report was requested by a private attorney for an expert opinion. A post-mortem examination was conducted and multiple superficial injuries were recorded on his body. Head injury was given as a cause of death. The author seeks to critically analyze the post-mortem findings in relation to the cause and manner of death.
An erroneous opinion was reached regarding cause and manner of death in this autopsy report.
尸检质量在法庭上一直受到质疑，尤其是在发展中国家。医学中错误的决定或误判是不可取的，但在法医学中它们非常危险。如果给出错误的意见，要么罪犯会被宣告无罪，要么无辜的人会被判刑。因此，在宣布判决之前总是需要专家意见。
强调法医尸检中确定死因的准确性问题。
一名19岁的年轻成年男性（E先生），有酗酒史，因盗窃指控被警方带到医院急诊部。他昏迷不醒，到达后两小时内死亡。一名私人律师要求出具尸检报告以获取专家意见。进行了尸检，其身体上记录有多处浅表损伤。死因被认定为头部受伤。作者试图批判性地分析与死因和死亡方式相关的尸检结果。
这份尸检报告在死因和死亡方式方面得出了错误的意见。
