The Essentials Of Forensic Medicine And Toxicology
PREFACE
This treatise is designed to provide a brief and essentially practical guide to current teaching in Forensic
Medicine with pmticular reference to India. The subject matter has been dealt with concisely, which is easy
to grasp and simplified in presentation, and wherever necessary illustrations, tables and points have been
inserted to help the students. The airn is to provide reasonable coverage of the subject as a whole. An attempt
has been made to maintain the practical character of the book. I hope the reader will find it of immense help
while dealing with any medicolegal case. Over and above, the book has been entirely revised and special
additions and alterations have also been made and the overall text brought up-to-date.
It is intended ptimarily to meet the needs of the undergraduate medical students, to have clear grasp of
this subject. Certain topics, such as forensic ballistics, regional injuries, anesthetic and operative deaths, DNA
fingerprinting and blood stains have been dealt with in detail to meet the requirements of medical officers.
Even where less attention is given to some topics, sufficient has been included to meet the requirements of
medicolegal experts. Every endeavour has been made to preclude the identification of the deceased from the
photographs. A few new topics, such as procedure to be followed in dealing with . .medicolegal cases, virtual
Essentials of Forensic Medicine
A doctor may be called to testify (1) as an ordinary
witness who saw an incident, (2) as the medical
practitioner who treated the patient, (3) as an expert
to give his opinion on matter of science
. In the first
two conditions, it is his duty and obligation to testify.
In the last condition he may refuse the request:, ( 1)
if he feels reluctant to undergo what he fears will
be a painful experience, (2) if he feels that he is not
sufficiently qualified to testify with any conviction in
that particular case, and (3) if he feels that he cannot
spare the time to prepare properly or to make long
appearances in Court
. A properly prepared physician
often finds his Court room experience educative and
not as traumatic as he would have anticipated
. His
introduction to the legal process may be unpleasant, if
he is irritated by an aggressive prosecuting or defence
lawyer
. The reluctance of medical practitioners to
become witnesses is mainly due to the pressures of
their private practice
. Other factors include a fear of
merciless cross-examination. harassment, and even
the recall.
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