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Medicolegal

A medico-legal case is a medical situation with legal implications, requiring investigation by law enforcement, often involving injuries from various causes. Medical practitioners have specific duties, including providing treatment, reporting certain offenses, and collecting evidence, as outlined in the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. Proper management of these cases involves identifying them accurately, providing preliminary treatment, and preparing a detailed medico-legal report.

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15 views3 pages

Medicolegal

A medico-legal case is a medical situation with legal implications, requiring investigation by law enforcement, often involving injuries from various causes. Medical practitioners have specific duties, including providing treatment, reporting certain offenses, and collecting evidence, as outlined in the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. Proper management of these cases involves identifying them accurately, providing preliminary treatment, and preparing a detailed medico-legal report.

Uploaded by

godhatesher
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is a medico-legal case

A medico-legal case is essentially a medical case with legal


implications. A medical case becomes a medico-legal case
when the attending doctor clinically examines the patient and
their history and forms the opinion that an investigation by
law enforcement is needed. A medical examination conducted
for patients brought by the police or the court also falls within
this category. The following are some examples of cases that
fall under the category of medico-legal cases:
Injuries due to battery;
Injuries that have a likelihood of death;
Injuries due to accidents, which can be industrial, vehicular,
or other causes;
Injuries due to firearms;
Legal terms
The following are some of the legal terms in the Indian Penal
Code that every medical practitioner should be aware of while
dealing with a medico-legal case:
Injury: Section 44 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 defines
injury as any harm caused to a person's mind, body,
reputation, or property in a manner that is illegal. Hence, the
term "injury" includes any kind of bodily harm that is inflicted
on a person illegally.
Simple hurt: The term 'simple hurt,' also called 'hurt,' is
defined in Section 319 of the Indian Penal Code. It includes
any bodily pain, disease, or infirmity caused to a person.
Grievous hurt: The term 'grievous hurt' is defined in Section
320 of the Indian Penal Code. It includes the following things:
Duties of doctors with respect to medico-legal cases
Duty to not refuse treatment
Every doctor is bound by their duty to treat any patient. When
doctors enter their profession, they make an oath to perform
their duties with utmost dignity and integrity, promising to
always put the patient's needs first. They cannot give any
reason to refuse treatment, particularly for patients requiring
emergency medical services.
Delhi High Court reiterated that doctors, as well as, police
officers have a duty to ensure and provide medical aid to
persons involved in medico-legal cases
Additionally, the Supreme Court laid down the following
guidelines:
1. A patient who needs emergency medical assistance must be
admitted by the doctor.
2. Even when there is no vacant bed available, the doctor must
ensure that the patient gets due care.
3. In case a patient cannot be admitted to the hospital, the
doctor must also take the necessary steps required to transfer
the patient to another hospital via an ambulance. The doctor
must ensure that the receiving hospital has space and qualified
doctors for treatment. The doctor must send the necessary
medical reports as well with the transfer.
Disclosure of crimes
As per Section 39 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),
1973, a person who becomes aware of the commission of an
offence must provide the information to the nearest Magistrate
or a police officer. The same shall apply to a doctor, who on
examining or treating a patient, forms an opinion that an
offence was committed or attempted. The following are some
of the offences of the Indian Penal Code that a doctor must
report:
1. Offences that affect life (Sections 302, 303 and 304),
2. Offences against public tranquillity (Sections 143, 144,
145, 147 and 148),
(Sections 272 to 278),
Collection of samples and information
Every doctor must collect necessary information and samples
and properly record them while examining or treating a
patient. This ensures that in case legal complications arise, the
doctor will have sufficient evidence to provide for
investigation. It is also to be noted that the disappearance of
evidence is a punishable offence under Section 201 of the
Indian Penal Code.
Management of medico-legal cases
1. Identification
The first step is the identification of a medico-legal case.
After assessing the injuries, history, and circumstances, the
doctor or medical practitioner must exercise his professional
judgement to label a case as medico-legal or as non-medico-
legal. The doctor must be careful while labelling. He must
avoid mislabelling a case as non-medico-legal merely due to
pressure from the patient or his relatives.
2. Preliminary treatment
In case of the medico-legal case being an emergency, the first
thing the doctor should do is to ensure that the patient receives
the preliminary treatment. As stated earlier, every doctor is
bound by their oath to put the patient's needs first before any
procedural requirements
3. Medico-legal report
A medico-legal report contains three parts: preliminary
details, findings from the examination, and an opinion.

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