Forensic Pathology

Forensic pathology is the study of the effects of trauma, injury, and unnatural diseases on the human body. It primarily focuses on accidental, suicidal, and homicidal deaths where tissue damage is the main finding. Additionally, it includes cases of poisoning, although not all poisons cause tissue damage.

Forensic pathologists are particularly interested in accidental, suicidal, and homicidal deaths where tissue damage is the main finding.

Cases of poisoning are highlighted separately in forensic pathology because not all poisons cause tissue damage.

Deaths due to violence and the consequences of injuries, deaths resulting from external physical factors, deaths resulting from the effect of a chemical substance, and deaths following the administration of an anesthetic or surgical procedure.

Examples include deaths from vehicle accidents, being struck by lightning, or dying during a natural disaster such as a flood.

Deaths from natural causes such as heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, or complications related to Covid-19.

A post mortem examination (autopsy) is typically performed by a forensic pathologist in cases where a person dies suddenly without pre-existing illness, if the death is unexplained, or if there is suspicion that the death was due to an act or neglect to act by any person including medical staff.

An example of an act that can lead to a person's death being classified as not 'natural' is when a person dies as a result of medication which is injected intravenously (in the blood vessels) and it was meant to be injected into the muscle.

An example of a death that would be considered 'natural' but could be suspected to be due to an act or neglect to act by any person including medical staff is when a person with no medical aid reports at a private hospital with severe chest pain, but is refused medical assistance, and subsequently dies of a heart attack upon leaving the hospital.