Non-Violent Death Issue in Latvian Medicolegal System

Description

According to Latvian legislation forensic autopsies are performed within the framework of the Criminal Law in cases of violent deaths, suspicions thereof and on unidentified bodies. If the identity of the deceased is established and death is non-violent it is reasonable to perform a hospital autopsy instead of a forensic autopsy or to issue a death certificate without an autopsy based on ambulatory medical records. However, given the fact that police don’t have access to medical records of the deceased, forensic autopsies are ordered. The main goal of this topic was to determine the amount and types of non-violent death cases in Latvian forensic medicine and analyze the reasons for their increasing number.. Analysis of the reports of autopsies performed in Latvia State Centre for Forensic Medicine in 2021.. 2611 autopsies were performed in 2021. 1119 (43%) of these were of violent death cases due to criminal and accidental injuries, extreme temperature, electricity and noxious chemical exposures, asphyxia and poisonings. 1160 (44%) were of non-violent death cases (increase by 309 cases in comparison to 2020) comprised by acute and subacute coronary heart disease (474), cardiomyopathies (298), acute abdominal conditions (119), pneumonia (72). In 332 cases (13%) the cause of death was not established due to corpse exposure to physical factors and late postmortem changes. In the majority of non-violent death autopsies the documentation provided by police did not contain any information indicating that the death could have been violent. . Within the given medicolegal framework not infrequently autopsy is the only option for determining the cause of death. A united digital medical data system available for all medical practitioners and police is required to optimize the work of forensic medical services in Latvia and decrease the number of forensic autopsies for non-violent death cases.

Period	29 Mar 2023
Event title	RSU Research week 2023: Society. Health. Welfare
Event type	Conference
Conference number	9
Organiser	Rīga Stradiņš University
Location	Riga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International