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The coroner has three main decisions to make when a death occurs. First, should they accept the death for investigation? The general principles are that if the death was violent, unnatural or of unknown cause, it should be investigated. Second, once investigated, the coroner must decide whether to open an inquest. An inquest is opened when the original reason for accepting the death for investigation — violent, unnatural, or unknown cause — still holds after initial enquiries.
The third and final decision for the coroner is to determine the appropriate verdict for the death. You might think that coroner areas would have a fairly similar profile of verdicts but, in fact, these too vary widely.
Although my research examined data up to , the latest government statistics reveal that inconsistencies in reporting continue. Widely varying outcomes across the country prove that not all coroner areas can be striking the appropriate balance between the needs of the state and the rights of the bereaved.
Causes of death, informed by accurate classification and a consistent approach, are the starting point for setting priorities for preventative social policy and medicine. The bereaved, and our ability to prevent future deaths, are not being well served. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. The data of unnatural deaths may reflect the law and order situation in a particular area of jurisdiction 2. The crime and violence exist in the society since long over the centuries but in this modern era there is an extreme aggravation of these problems4.
In Pakistan, attempts have been made by the researchers to find out the magnitude, cause and manner of death as well as the sociodemographic background of the victims of unnatural deaths, at different centers from province of Baluchistan,4 Punjab, Sindh, KPK, and AJK Drawing public attention and awareness towards casualties is important to prevent unnatural deaths; this possibly could reduce the incidence of such cases. This paper will not only find out the magnitude of unnatural deaths but also provide a snapshot of the demographic profile, manners and modalities involved in medico legal deaths, presented to the Department of Forensic Medicine Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad for post mortem examination.
The finding of this study will create awareness among the people about deaths related to violence which is the important public health concern in the society. It will also be helpful for law enforcement agencies to make the strategies for prevention of such incidences. There were males and females belonging to the ages from 0 to 90 years. The relatives and friends of the victims were also interviewed in suspected cases of suicidal deaths. The data entered on a Performa, statistically analyzed and the results were summarized in tables and charts. Out of the total victims of Medico legal deaths, The detail is shown in Table 1 below: Showing distribution of manner of death in Medico legal fatalities n Age wise distribution of the victims revealed that majority of the deaths Both extremes of age were least presented.
Among cases of homicidal death, firearms were the weapon of choice used by the assailants in Manual strangulation was responsible to kill 09 3. Burning contributed in 02 0.
Investigation of sudden cardiac death SCD , like all other sudden, unexpected or unnatural death relies heavily on a thorough and comprehensive investigation of the circumstances surrounding death, including a scene investigation, interview with family and friends regarding family history and social history, collection of any medical history from a treating physician, review of the medical records. Manual strangulation was responsible to kill 09 3. Prof Zafar died of heart attack: All were pre- trial verdict inmates, like Ram Singh, who had become the 21st inmate to die an unnatural death. That being said, it is imperative that a pathologist possess the ability and knowledge to determine if stress is a contributing cause to death and to rule-out other possibilities. The other were divided into those who were intoxicated and those who were not. The police investigate the death on behalf of the Crown; a death certificate cannot, therefore, be issued and a postmortem examination is required.
Details are shown in Table 3. Showing age and sex wise distribution of Medico legal deaths n Among a total of 75 accidental deaths, 64 Death due to Railway track accidents occurred in 02 2. The detail of distribution among accidental fatalities is shown in Table 4. Among total 23 suicidal deaths, hanging had higher incidence 13 There was 01 4.
Details shown in Table 5. We have tried to find out the manners and modalities of deaths which were brought for medico legal autopsies in the mortuary of Forensic Medicine Department PunjabMedical College, Faisalabad during the study period i. Results of our study showed that the most dominant manner of death was homicide followed by accidents.
Out of total deaths, This finding of present study is in agreement with studies conducted at Peshawar 13 and Dera Ismail Khan 14 , which showed homicidal deaths predominance in all unnatural deaths. Whereas; the finding of our study are in contrast with the studies conducted at Dacca 20,28 , Hyderabad 10 and Nigeria 21 which showed the accidental deaths as dominant manner in all Medico legal deaths.
Our results illustrate that during the period under study, These finding are consistent with the studies conducted in Lahore 6 , and Nawabshah 11 but is less than the percentage found in Bahawalpur 7 , and Peshawar The most vulnerable age group in our study was years involving The cases belonging to both extremes of age were least involved. Our results are similar with the studies in different centers of Pakistan 8,9,12,15 and other countries reporting highest incidence of medico legal deaths in this age group.
Deaths among males were predominant Road Traffic Accident victims among accidental deaths were mostly vehicular occupants than the pedestrians.
The situation is versed due to defects in vehicles and lack of observance of traffic rules. Suicide was a rare manner of death contributed in 23 5. Hanging was adopted for committing suicide in 13 cases which outnumbered as compared to other methods. Among them, 5 were males and 8 female. It has been observed that firearms as weapon of assault This finding is in similarity with the fact that guns are the method of choice for committing intentional deaths.
Similar pattern has been reported by some authors in their studies 14,16 conducted at different centers of Pakistan indicating the firearms as weapons of choice to be used for killing as compared to other modalities. Accidental deaths were the next to homicide. Fatalities due to Firearms were on the top of homicidal injuries and deaths during the period of our study. Among accidental deaths, majority of the victims lost their lives in Road Traffic Accidents.
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J Indian Acad Forensic Med ;32 3: Rahim M, Das TC. Bangl Med J ; 38 2: J of Rawal Med Coll ;17 2: Analysis of medico legal Autopsies at Faisalabad. The Profess ;10 2:
Unnatural death is a category used by coroners or medical examiners and vital statistics specialists for classifying all human deaths not properly describable as. Circumstances and toxicology of sudden or unnatural deaths involving alprazolam was investigated in cases of sudden or unnatural deaths presenting to.