1Associate Professor Department of Forensic Medicine, Dr. R. P. Govt. Medical College, Kangra at Tanda, HP
2Professor and Head Department of Forensic Medicine, Dr. R. P. Govt. Medical College, Kangra at Tanda, HP
3Junior Resident (1st year PG student) Department of Forensic Medicine, Dr. R. P. Govt. Medical College, Kangra at Tanda, HP
4Junior Resident (1st year PG student) Department of Forensic Medicine, Dr. R. P. Govt. Medical College, Kangra at Tanda, HP
5Demonstrator Department of Forensic Medicine, Dr. R. P. Govt. Medical College, Kangra at Tanda, HP
* Corresponding Author: Dr. Vijay Arora, Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, Dr. R. P. Govt. Medical College, Kangra at Tanda, HP. Contact: +91 94180–89939 E-mail: drvjarora@gmail.com
Any registered medical practitioner can conduct a medico-legal autopsy on the request of the investigating officer. But many times medical officers refer the dead body to the nearest Forensic Medicine specialist/department to conduct autopsy due to reasons, which can be avoidable.
Objectives: In present study we tried to find out the impact of referral and probable solution to the problem.
Material and Method: In present study, five years (1 Jan 2011- 31 Dec 2015) medico-legal documents scrutinized for the objective of the study.
Result: Every 7th autopsy conducted in the Forensic Medicine department was a referred case and commonest cause of referral was decomposition changes present in the body, followed by sudden & suspicious death.
Conclusion: All doctors should realize the impact of referral of dead body. Tendency of referral of dead body may be minimized by providing enough and well trained doctor and staff along with well equipped mortuary.
Referral of dead body, Referred autopsy, Medico-legal negligence
