Publication

Abstract : This study is subsequent to an earlier study conducted by the investigators to establish the importance of a Clinical Forensic Medicine Unit (CFMU) in a major hospital, which was done by way of comparison of the quality of wound certification. In this study the authors decided to compare the quality of discharge certification or treatment certification that has serious implications when it comes to presentation of a medico-legal case in the court. Handling of medico-legal issues has been always a challenging task in India. The scenario here unlike the West is much less satisfactory with regard to discharge of medico-legal duties. The treating physician may efficiently manage the medical needs of the injured/poisoned, but later when the treatment certificate/records are perused in the court, there is often confusion in relation to medicolegal aspects. The guidance or services of a forensic expert is essential for effective management of such medico-legal problems and the Clinical Forensic Medicine Unit (CFMU) started a year ago under the overall administrative control of the Department of Forensic Medicine Toxicology in Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Cochin, Kerala has been proven to be successful in this regard. In this retrospective study discharge/treatment summaries were compared with discharge/treatment certificates. Until the advent of CFMU the treatment summaries were used as medico-legal documents in the court. The medico-legal aspects documented in 200 certificates, i.e. 100 numbers that were prepared by non-forensic doctors and 100 numbers that were prepared by the CFMU, were compared, scrutinised and analysed. The statistical results showed that the differences in the documentation of discharge details (for medico-legal purpose) were highly significant with a p value of 0.001. © 2017 South India Medico-Legal Association. All rights reserved.