FORENSIC

1. AN INTRODUCTION
TO FORENSIC
MEDICINE AND
TOXICOLOGY
BY DR IMRAN SABRI,ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,
FORENSIC MEDICINE, COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, KFU

2. DEFINITIONS TO REMEMBER
 FORENSIC MEDICINE
 FORENSIC SCIENCES
 MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE
 FORENSIC PATHOLOGY
 MEDICAL ETHICS
 MEDICAL ETIQUETTES.
 STATE MEDICINE
 TOXICOLOGY.
 INDIAN PENAL CODE [IPC]
 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE [Cr PC]
 INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT [IEA]

3. DEFINITION :
 FORENSIC MEDICINE: Application of Medicine or
Medical Science for the administration of justice
or for the purpose of law
 FORENSIC SCIENCES: Application of Sciences for
the administration of justice.
 MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE: Study of laws
applicable to practice of Medicine. Deals with the
legal aspect of medical practice.
 FORENSIC PATHOLOGY: Study and application of
effect of violence or unnatural disease in its various
forms in or on human body, in determining the
cause and manner of death in case of violence,
suspicious, unexplained, unexpected, sudden and
medically unattended deaths

4. DEFINITIONS
 TOXICOLOGY: It is science dealing with
properties, toxicity, fatal dose, detection
estimation of, interpretation of the result of
toxicological analysis and treatment of
poisons.
 FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY: Application of
toxicology for the administration of justice.
Or it deals with medical and legal aspects of
the harmful effect of chemicals on human
beings.

5. MEDICAL ETHICS & ETIQUETTES
 MEDICAL ETHICS: It deals with moral
principals which should guide members of
medical profession in their dealings with each
other, their patients and state. In short it deals
with doctor-doctor relationships, doctor-
patients relations, doctor-state relationships.
 MEDICAL ETIQUTTES: Laws of courtesy
observed between members of medical
profession.

6. EXAMPLES OF MEDICOLEGAL CASES
 Road traffic accidents
 Accidents in factories
 Cases with mismatched history
 Suspected cases of homicides or suicides
 Suspected cases of poisoning
 Burn injuries of any cause
 Any case where foul play is suspected.
 Suspected or evident cases of sexual offences
 Unconscious patient whether the etiology of
unconsciousness is cleared
 Brought out patients with the improper history
 All cases referred by courts

7. WHAT TO DO in MLC
 Record all his findings and observations
correctly and inform police station in
writing.
 Every doctor whether working in Govt.
hospitals or in private practice is legally and
ethically bound to provide emergency
treatment to all cases whether they are
medico legal or not.
 The private practitioner after providing
emergency care may refer the case to the
appropriate hospital for further treatment.

8. WHAT TO DO...
 Every Medico Legal Case should be entered in
the Medico Legal Register kept in the hospital
and information.
 Two copies of Case sheet.
 Every Medico Legal Case should be treated at
the earliest and the formalities may be
completed later.
 Preserve all the articles including clothes,
gastric lavage, weapons,pellets or bullets
removed from the body of patient. Also preserve
X-RAYS, CT scans, MRI films. Articles should be
handed over to police and obtain a proper
receipt.