Medical criminalistics

Medical criminalistics is an essential part of legal/forensic medicine. It includes the clinical examination of surviving victims and suspects, the inspection of the scene in suspicious deaths with subsequent performance of medico-legal autopsies, the assessment of (biological) traces and the reconstruction of criminal events under medical aspects. Just as the circumstances of life and the manifestations of crime are changing with time, there is a permanent alteration regarding the issues of medical criminalistics. Legal/forensic medicine is a university subject in most countries and therefore, research work is one of the main tasks also in medical criminalistics. In contrast to clinical medicine and basic research, some common study designs are not suitable for the special needs of medical criminalistics, whereas other types are more appropriate like epidemiological evaluations, cross-sectional studies and (retrospective) observation studies. Moreover, experimental model tests and case reports also rate high in medical criminalistics. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.