EVALUATING A MEDICOLEGAL OFFICE
- 27 August 1955
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in JAMA
- Vol. 158 (17) , 1485-1489
- https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1955.02960170001001
Abstract
There is wide and general agreement that 20 to 25 % of all deaths require medicolegal investigation.1There is little or no agreement on what percentage of these medicolegal cases require autopsy. Some medicolegal officers perform autopsies on all of these cases; others perform it on none.2Regardless of the percentage on whom he finds it necessary to perform an autopsy, each officer will tell you that in his jurisdiction there is little or no danger that criminal and violent deaths will be overlooked. Moreover, he believes that in natural deaths a correct and satisfactory cause is given. The causes and circumstances of deaths in various jurisdictions do not vary in any such degree as the variation in percentage of autopsies performed would seem to imply. It is apparent that either some medicolegal officers are doing too few autopsies or perhaps others are doing too many. It is certainKeywords
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