ABSTRACT
'Guidelines for Notification of Unnatural Death', published by the Japanese Society of Legal Medicine (JSLM) in 1994, has been sometimes criticised by many doctors and lawyers. In various countries, laws specify the type of deaths that should undergo post-mortem examination. The centralized system of reporting death deals with treatment-related deaths. Although the JSLM Guidelines are based on such international norms, the dispute over reporting unnatural deaths in Japan goes against the dominant global trend. One way of solving these issues is to ensure that the police transform their own death investigation apparatus to delink it from criminal investigations. And we need to press for a system that can give the information obtained in investigations back to society, such as to the medical world or other public organisations.
Subject(s)
Cause of Death , Forensic Medicine , Guidelines as Topic , Mandatory Reporting , Societies, Scientific , Australia , Coroners and Medical Examiners , European Union , Humans , Japan , United StatesABSTRACT
Postmortem computed tomography (CT) images can show internal findings related to the cause of death, and it can be a useful method for forensic diagnosis. In this study, we scanned a ready-made box by helical CT on 2-mm slices in a mobile CT scanner and measured each side of the box to assess whether reconstructed images are useful for superimposition. The mean difference between the actual measurements and the measurements on the three-dimensional (3D) reconstructed images (3D-CT images) is 0.9 mm; we regarded it as having no effect on reconstruction for the superimposition method. Furthermore, we could get 3D-CT images of the skull, which were consistent with the actual skull, indicating that CT images can be applied to superimposition for identification. This study suggested that postmortem CT images can be applied as superimpositions for unidentified cases, and thinner slices or cone beam CT can be a more precise tool.
Subject(s)
Forensic Anthropology/methods , Imaging, Three-Dimensional , Skull/diagnostic imaging , Tomography, Spiral Computed , Burns , Drowning , Humans , MummiesSubject(s)
Cause of Death , Forensic Medicine/methods , Prisoners/statistics & numerical data , Autopsy , Government Agencies/standards , Guidelines as Topic/standards , Humans , Japan , Police/legislation & jurisprudence , Police/standards , Violence/legislation & jurisprudence , Violence/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
An 89-year-old male patient, hospitalized with Parkinson's syndrome, suddenly died shortly after an intravenous drug injection. The conditions indicated that an overdose of nicardipine (1.3 mg/(mlkg)) may be given to the patient. At the autopsy, no pathological changes were noted. With a capillary gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer (GC-MS), nicardipine (4.97 microg/ml) and its pyridine metabolite (M-5, 5.0 microg/ml) were detected in the heart blood of the deceased. This result indicated that an overdose of intravenous nicardipine caused a sudden death of a patient in a poor condition.
