Forensic Pathology
Definition
The medical specialty that determines cause and manner of death through autopsy and examination of the body, injuries, and circumstances of death.
- Core method
- Autopsy and injury examination
- Determines
- Cause and manner of death
- Parent field
- Medical specialty within forensic medicine
- Typical employer
- Medical examiner or coroner's office
Common questions
What is the difference between cause of death and manner of death?+
Cause of death is the specific medical condition or injury that led to death, such as a gunshot wound or myocardial infarction, while manner of death is the legal classification of how it occurred: natural, accident, suicide, homicide, or undetermined.
When is a full autopsy not performed even in a suspicious death?+
Jurisdictional rules, family religious objections, or a case where cause of death is already clear from imaging and external examination can lead to a limited or external-only examination instead of a full autopsy, subject to the pathologist's or coroner's judgment.
Related terms
- Chain of Custody
- The documented chronological record of who collected, handled, transferred, and examined a piece of evidence. For digital evidence, chain of custody includes...
- Criminalistics
- The application of scientific methods, especially physical and chemical analysis, to detect crime and identify criminals. The term was systematised by Hans...
- Digital Forensics
- The discipline concerned with the recovery, preservation, and analysis of evidence stored on physical digital devices. Primary evidence sources are disk images,...
- Expert Witness
- A person whose specialised knowledge is accepted by a court and who gives opinion evidence, not just factual evidence. Forensic auditors frequently...
- Forensic Science
- The application of scientific methods and knowledge to questions that arise in legal proceedings. The goal is producing findings that are reliable,...