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Prefinal Ho
Prefinal Ho
Legal Medicine is a branch of medicine which deals with the application of medical knowledge to the
purpose of law and in the administration of justice. The application of basic and clinical, medical and
paramedical science to elucidate legal matters.
Forensic – denotes anything belonging to the court of law or used in court or legal proceedings or
something fitted for legal or public argumentation.
Medicine science and art dealing with prevention, cure and alleviation of disease; it is that part of science
and art of restoring and preserving health.
Forensic Medicine deals with application of medical science to elucidate legal problems.
Medico-Legal Office System used in the Philippines at present which is handled by a Medical Jurist or
Medico-Legal Officer who is a registered physician duly qualified to practice medicine in the Philippines.
Medico-Legal Officer is the one who investigate medico-legal cases of death; physical injuries, rape and
other sexual crimes
FORENSIC PATHOLOGISTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
1. Dr. Raquel Barros del Rosario-Fortun, the first Filipina forensic pathologist practicing in the
Philippines.
2. Dr. Maria Cecilia Lim
In all crimes that have caused an immediate or eventual death, the work of the forensic pathologist is
crucial. He is medical doctor with special training in those aspects of pathology associated with crime, as
contrasted with the ordinary pathologist, who is more concerned with death and disease.
Suspicious deaths are a major concern of the forensic pathologist, who must obtain the information
by which they may be classified as natural (disease), self-destruction, murder, or accident. His efforts will
generally be supplemented in this task by investigator who can provide a background for the event. In
some offices of the coroner or medical examiner, there are such investigators on the staff. In others, the
police department or sheriff’s office must be relied on. Here the actual cause of death is generally the most
important part of the information, and this is generally available only through autopsy. In modern date
facilities, such as those medical examiners in the NBI Crime Laboratory and the PNP Crime Laboratory,
autopsies are performed in all suspicious death case.
Some forensic pathologists perform toxicological examinations as well as pathology. Generally, this
is not good practice because few pathologists qualify in both fields; in many offices, a toxicologist is part of
the staff.
Tracing of bullet tracts through the body, though a very common activity is not always simple. But in
reconstruction of a shooting, this can make the difference between knowing what happened and mere
speculation. Analysis of other wounds.
Identification of Persons:
In case of unknown dead human body found elsewhere by the investigator, the ff. points should be
taken with consideration:
Place where the body was found
Date and time when found
Cause of death
Time when death occurred
Approximate age
Complete description of the body
Points to consider in identifying the person: Face, Eyes, Nose, Head, Condition of the hair, Ears,
Mouth, Body Built, Height, Weight, Gait, Complexion, Mannerism, Teeth, Hands and Feet.
Death is the complete cessation of all the vital functions without possibility of resuscitation. The absence of
life in a living matter. Upon death the organism returns to a stable equilibrium, both physically and
chemical. In medico- legal death, it refers to the death which involves in crime or medico-legal cases to
prove or disapprove that a foul play had been done. Usually, death from sickness in the hospital or at home
is a natural death and therefore is not classified under medico-legal death because there is no foul play or
crime involved.
Medico-legal importance of determining death:
Basis for immediate removal of vital organs and for transplantation;
Civil personality of a natural person is extinguished upon death. The effect of death upon the rights,
powers and obligations of the deceased is determined by law, contract and will.
Property of a person is transferred among the heirs at the time of death. Art. 774, Civil Code.
Criminal liability of a person is extinguished by death. Art. 89, RPC.
Civil case for claim which does not survive is dismissed upon the death of the defendant. Rule 3,
Sec. 21, Rules of Court.
Kinds of Death:
Somatic Death – Clinical Death: It is a complete, continuous, persistent cessation of respiration,
circulation and almost all brain functions of an organism. The immediate signs of death in a person
are the sudden cessation of upward and downward movement of the chest in the process of
respiration; sudden pale color of the face and lips; the pulse and the heart beat stops; the jaw or
head drops down and flaccidity of the muscles occurs; the presence of dilated pupils as well as the
loss of corneal and light reflexes.
Molecular Death – Cellular Death: It is the cessation of life of the individual cells in the body
which occurs one at a time after somatic death. The blood contains food and oxygen that is ended
by the tissues. Nerve cells and brain cells die earlier about 5 minutes after somatic death while
muscle cells live longer until the onset of rigor mortis which is about 2-6 hours.
The signs of death must be determined not only for its medico-legal implication but also to exclude
apparent death by the early as well as late changes which occurred in the body at the time of death or
within the next few minutes extending into the first and subsequent hours.
1. Cessation of Heart Beating and Circulation
Upon death, the heart stops beating in a persistent and continuous manner which cannot be revived by
cardiac massage and other resuscitative measures for about a period of five minutes.
Subsequently, the pulse beat stopped and also the circulation or blood flow to different parts of the body. In
this condition, the person is pronounced to be dead. In case of decapitation or cutting of the head and
judicial hanging, the heart beat persist for 15 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Cessation of Respiration – It has been observed that when a prson is dying the breathing
becomes irregular and then suddenly in gaps separated by long periods of interval until a last
expiratory movement which is usually accepted as the outward and visible sign of death which had
occurred. A person can hold his breath not longer than 3 and a half- minute but a persistent,
continuous cessation of breathing after 5 minutes without spontaneous breathing and repeated
testing for at least two minutes interval at each testing is considered as a respiratory failure.
3. Cooling of the body The metabolic process and other biochemical changes in the body producing
heat and energy as well as the function of the hypothalamus controlling the body temperature
stopped upon death, thereby the body temperature gradually decreases until it assumes the
temperature of the environment.
The lowering of the body temperature is one of the earliest sign of death and the body cools by
radiation, conduction and convection. The rate of fall of the body temperature is most rapid in the
first four after death and then progressively slower during the next 6-9 hours until it reaches the
temperature of the surroundings beyond 12 hours.
The normal body temperature in a living person is 37 degrees Celsius or 98.3 degrees Fahrenheit
but upon death the temperature gradually decreases. The fall of 15 degrees Fahrenheit to 20
degrees Fahrenheit is considered as death of the body.
2. Stage of Post- Mortem Rigidity or Rigor Mortis aka CADAVERIC RIGIDITY, DEATH
STRUGGLE OF MUSCLES, RIGOR(rigidity) MORTIS (Death) = Rigor Mortis is rigidity of the
muscles after death
This stage of muscular change which occurs 2-6 hours after death and is characterized by
hardening of the muscles due to biochemical changes of the muscle proteins that will ultimately
result to decrease of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is a protein substance of the muscle
fibers. The rigor mortis involved both voluntary and involuntary muscles which usually start at the
muscles of the jaw and face and then spreads to the neck, upper limbs, trunk and lower limbs until
the whole body assumes a board like rigidity after about 12 hours. The duration of rigor mortis in a
dead person varies in cold, temperature and tropical countries. In temperate countries, rigor mortis
will be present for 2 to 3 days while in tropical countries the duration is 2 days although during
summer rigor mortis will last for 36-48 hours after death.
Conditions Simulating Rigor Mortis
1. Heat stiffening: A condition characterized by hardening of the muscles due to coagulation of
muscle proteins when the dead body is exposed to intense heat as by burning or immersion in
a hot liquid.
2. Cold Stiffening: A condition characterized by hardening of the muscles due to solidification of
fats, muscles and fluid when the dead body is exposed to extremely cold or freezing
temperature.
3. Cadaveric Spasm or Instantaneous Rigor: It is the instant stiffening of a certain group of
muscles which occurs immediately at the moment of death and although its cause is unknown
is associated with violent death due to extreme nervous tension, fatigue and injury to the
nervous system. This voluntary contraction of muscles has a medico-legal implication because
it records the last act of life in a person.
Other names of CS
- Instantaneous Rigor
- Cataleptic Rigidity
- Instantaneous Rigidity
- Death Grip
- Post Mortem Spasm
3. Stage of secondary flaccidity A muscular change characterized by the softness and flaccidity of
the muscles in which no longer response to mechanical or electrical stimulation due to dissolution of
the muscle proteins that have been previously coagulated during the stage of rigor mortis. This
stage is the onset of putrefaction and occurs many hours in rigor mortis.
Putrefaction It is the process of dissolution of tissues by the digestive action of its enzymes and
bacteria that results to softening and liquefaction of tissues and usually accompanied by the liberation
of foul-smelling gases and change of color of the tissues. The flies will be attracted to the dead body
during putrefaction and sipped the juicy portion of the tissues: lay eggs which hatch within 24 hours to
form maggots and which again feed vigorously in the damage tissues.
Approximate Sequence of Events in Putrefaction of Dead Body in Tropical Countries:
After 1-2 days (24-48 hours) Putrefactive changes: Rigor mortis absent; muscles soft and flaccid; greenish
discoloration over the abdomen; some veins beneath the skin seen as interlacing purplish brown network
over the shoulder, chest and abdomen; flies and ova are present.
3rd day (72 hours) Putrefactive Changes: Abdomen distended with gases; trunk bloated; hair and nails
loosened from its attachment; formation of blisters and blebs; face grossly swollen and discolored; maggots
seen.
1 week (7 days) Putrefactive Changes: Further bloating of the body and discoloration of the skin; bursting
of the thorax and abdomen; further dissolution of the more resistant viscera.
2 weeks (14 days) Putrefactive Changes: Detachment of hairs and nails from its attachment; bursting of the
thorax and abdomen; further dissolution of the more resistant viscera.
The decomposition of the dead body in temperate countries differs from those in the tropical
countries because of the differences in environmental temperature, air pollution and bacterial activity. In
temperate countries, the body when exposed to air will be reduced to skeleton in 5-6 months time but when
buried in a well drained soil will take about ten years before an adult dead body be reduced to skeleton if
embalmed.
Decomposition of dead body proceeds about twice as slowly as it is in air; but there are many
factors that interplay in the rate of decomposition like the temperature of the water, depth to which the body
is submerged, bacterial content of the water and the role of fishes and other aquatic animals.
Basis in Estimating the Time of Death: The following points may be used as basis to be taken into
consideration in estimating the time of death in a person:
General physical changes. A warm supple of the body with moist, transparent cornea and moist lips
as well as the absence of post-mortem lividity in the most dependent portions of the body is a
condition of recent death in a person. Considering the effects of the body and environmental
factors, the time of death may be within previous hour.
Post-mortem Lividity – Livor Mortis. The onset of post-mortem lividity is 20-30 minutes in the
most dependent portions of the body and is completed in about 12 hours when the blood has
already clotted or diffused to different parts of the body wherein the discoloration its darker and
permanent
Post-mortem Rigidity – Rigor Mortis. Onset – 2-6 hours after death and is completed in about 12
hours duration; 24-48 hours in the Philippines and other tropical countries; 36-48 hours during the
summer in the Philippines and other tropical countries.
Onset and stage of Decomposition. In tropical countries, the onset of decomposition is 1-2 days
after death and the finally the dead body becomes skeleton in a month’s time considering the
factors that influence the rate of putrefaction.
Changes in the blood The blood remains fluid in the body after death for 6-9 hours. After which it
gradually clotted in a slow process until 12 hours wherein the lividity is fully developed.