Forensic and legal medicine

What every doctor needs when clinical work meets the law: signs of death and time since death, blunt, sharp and firearm injuries, asphyxia, assessing injuries and medico-legal incapacity, sexual violence, child abuse, chain of custody and identification. With Colombia's framework (Law 906 of 2004, the Penal Code, the death certificate in RUAF, the rural doctor as expert witness), each norm linked to its official text. Every page ends with the next step: what to do and what to document.

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• TopicMaternal deaths and deaths after unsafe abortionThe autopsy of a woman who dies in pregnancy, childbirth or the puerperium looks for the exact…
• TopicComplications of injury and the chain of causationWhen a person dies days or weeks after an injury, the doctor must say whether the death followed…
• FindingCorrosives, metals, cyanide and toxic alcoholsCorrosives, metals, cyanide and toxic alcohols leave different traces; some are found only if…
• FindingDeath from heat: heat stroke and hyperthermiaDeath from heat leaves almost no autopsy findings: it is diagnosed from the circumstances, a…
• FindingNeglect and starvationNeglect means failing to give a child, an older person or a dependant the food, hygiene or care…
• TopicThe duty to report a crime and its limitsEveryone must report crimes that are prosecuted ex officio, but no one has to report themselves…
• TopicSudden cardiac death at autopsyThe autopsy of a sudden cardiac death examines the heart systematically to find the cause and to…
• FindingChest injuries, aortic rupture and resuscitation artefactsChest injuries kill by bleeding, air and heart damage; the doctor must also tell injuries from…

Areas

• Thanatology30 pagesMaternal deaths and deaths after unsafe abortion · Sudden cardiac death at autopsy · Sudden natural death outside the heart
• Mechanical injuries30 pagesComplications of injury and the chain of causation · Chest injuries, aortic rupture and resuscitation artefacts · Abdominal and pelvic injuries
• Toxicology, evidence and identification24 pagesCorrosives, metals, cyanide and toxic alcohols · Deaths from medicines · Pesticide and agricultural chemical deaths
• Asphyxia and physical agents19 pagesDeath from heat: heat stroke and hyperthermia · Chemical burns and acid attacks · Diving and pressure deaths: barotrauma and decompression
• Clinical forensic medicine18 pagesNeglect and starvation · Child homicide · Fabricated or induced illness in a child
• A doctor's legal duties in Colombia14 pagesThe duty to report a crime and its limits · Malingering in forensic settings · Criminal liability in medical practice: negligent homicide and injury

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Educational content on forensic and legal medicine; not legal advice and no substitute for the technical guides of Colombia's National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. Laws change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, follow the guide in force and ask the competent authority.

Representative model, for educational purposes only.