Citation

Cattaneo C, Tambuzzi S, Maggioni L, Zoja R. Int. J. Epidemiol. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, International Epidemiological Association, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/ije/dyac088

PMID

35474538

Abstract

Violent deaths, usually dealt with by forensic pathologists, have a key role in reconstructing the epidemiological profile of society. Forensic pathology and its decline should therefore not be of interest only to the forensic community. Through autopsies, forensic medicine plays an essential role for controlling death and disease due to violence, hence protecting public health in its broadest sense.1 Only through autopsy and associated laboratory analyses can we thoroughly detect cause of death and even the most deceitful or unintentional or voluntary crimes, from smotherings to poisonings. Regardless, autopsies requested by prosecutors, and at times even national health services, are decreasing―not because of a decrease in crime but as the consequence of political-legal decisions too often based on the perception of forensic medicine as a discipline unable to produce tangible results in terms of contributions to justice and public health.

Although it is impossible to account for the number...

Language: en