Forensic Pathology - Scope of Forensic Pathology

Scope of Forensic Pathology

Forensic pathology is an application of medical jurisprudence. The forensic pathologist:

• Is a medical doctor who has completed training in anatomical pathology and who has subsequently sub-specialized in forensic pathology. The requirements for becoming a "fully qualified" forensic pathologist varies from country to country. Some of the different requirements are discussed below.
• Performs autopsies/postmortem examinations to determine the cause of death. The autopsy report contains an opinion about :
  • The pathologic process, injury, or disease that directly results in or initiates a series of events that lead to a person's death (also called mechanism of death), such as a bullet wound to the head, exsanguination caused by a stab wound, manual or ligature strangulation, myocardial infarction resulting from coronary artery disease, etc.), and
  • The "manner of death", the circumstances surrounding the cause of death, which in most jurisdictions include:
    • Homicide
    • Accidental
    • Natural
    • Suicide
    • Undetermined

• The autopsy also provides an opportunity for other issues raised by the death to be addressed, such as the collection of trace evidence or determining the identity of the deceased.
• Examines and documents wounds and injuries, both at autopsy and occasionally in a clinical setting.
• Collects and examines tissue specimens under the microscope (histology) in order to identify the presence or absence of natural disease and other microscopic findings such as asbestos bodies in the lungs or gunpowder particles around a gunshot wound.
• Collects and interprets toxicological analyses on body tissues and fluids to determine the chemical cause of accidental overdoses or deliberate poisonings.
• Forensic pathologists also work closely with the medico-legal authority for the area concerned with the investigation of sudden and unexpected deaths i.e. the coroner (England and Wales), procurator fiscal (Scotland) or coroner or medical examiner (United States).
• Serves as an expert witness in courts of law testifying in civil or criminal law cases.

In an autopsy, he/she is often assisted by an autopsy/mortuary technician (sometimes called a diener in the USA).

Forensic physicians, sometimes referred to as 'forensic medical examiners' or 'police surgeons' (in the UK until recently), are medical doctors trained in the examination of, and provision of medical treatment to, living victims of assault (including sexual assault) and those individuals who find themselves in police custody. Many forensic physicians in the UK practise clinical forensic medicine part-time, whilst they also practise family medicine, or another medical specialty.

In the United Kingdom, Membership of the Royal College of Pathologists is not a prerequisite of appointment as a Coroner's Medical Expert, i.e. doctors in the UK that are not forensic pathologists or pathologists are allowed to perform medicolegal autopsies, simply because of the vague wording of 'The Coroners Act', which merely stipulates a 'suitably qualified medical practitioner', i.e. anyone on the GMC Register.