Journal de médecine légale

Forensic Autopsy

Abstract

Nobuaki Yamamoto

A forensic autopsy could also be a series of tests and examinations performed on the body to figure out the presence of an injury and/or to identify any disease which can have caused or contributed to the death. A forensic autopsy is used to figure out the cause, mode and manner of death. Forensic science involves the appliance of the sciences to answer questions of interest to the system Medical examiners decide to determine the time of death, the precise explanation for death, and what, if anything, preceded the death, sort of a struggle. A forensic autopsy may include obtaining biological specimens from the deceased for toxicological testing, including stomach contents. Toxicology tests may reveal the presence of 1 or more chemical "poisons" (all chemicals, in sufficient quantities, are often classified as a poison) and their quantity. Because post-mortem deterioration of the body, in conjunction with the gravitational pooling of bodily fluids, will necessarily alter the bodily environment, toxicology tests may overestimate, rather than underestimate, the amount of the suspected chemical.