Medico-legal Tip of the day

Medico-legal Tip of the day –1st Dec 2015

Question- Many patients are brought dead to casualty of hospital. Many of them were in terminal phase of life or suffering from diseases like cancer etc and were under treatment at various hospitals. Their relatives insist for death certificate, how to deal with it?

( Asked by Dr Prem Kumar CMO and incharge OPD, Safadarjung Hospital New Delhi )

Answer- As a rule, all patients brought to hospital as dead on arrival should be made medico-legal and death certificate should not be issued.

But cases like above, you may follow following guidelines and issue death certificate at your own risk.

1. Just check carefully all treatment papers and be convinced that they are genuine.

2. See whether illness was severe enough to cause death.

3. Check whether person is quite old to die naturally.

4. Examine the body in detail for injury, ligature marks, anything strange to point toward un-natural death.

If you are convinced then you can issue death certificate at your own risk.

Pl ease be careful, in following conditions of brought dead, under no circumstances death certificate should be issued.

1. Death of young male and young woman.

2. Child of any age.

There is no harm making a case as MLC. Police has power to waive off post-mortem. In Delhi, this power rests with Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP). 

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With warm regards, 

Prof ( Dr ) R K Sharma

MBBS (AIIMS) , MD ( AIIMS), FIAMLE , FICFMT , 

Medico-Legal Consultant