BMJ 1994;308:1711-1712 (25 June)

Letters

General practioners and necropsies General practioners are welcome at necropsies

EDITOR, - Recent articles on necropsies written by the non-forensic community are muddled and consistently omit to mention crucial differences between the coroner's necropsy (under the Coroners Act 1988 and the Coroners Rules 1984) and the hospital necropsy (under the Human Tissue Act 1961, as amended by the Anatomy Act 1984).*RF 1-3* The relevant cofactors that merit consideration by those indulging in medical jurisprudence are stated elsewhere.4,5

The comment that a deterrent to general practitioners requesting necropsies is their belief that a necropsy is needed only if the cause of death is not known1 is wrong. When the cause of death is unknown the case is referred to the coroner and a request from the general practitioner for a necropsy is redundant.

Although the coroner's investigation of a death primarily serves statutory requirements and medicolegal interest, modern forensic pathologists endeavour to find a medical reason for the death for the . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

General practitioners and necropsies
K B Thomas and R O Weller
BMJ 1994 308: 1054. [Extract] [Full Text]

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