Medicolegal Investigation of Deaths Involving Celebrities
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.พ. 2019
- Dr. Cyril Wecht, Forensic Pathologist, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Abstract: When a prominent political person or national celebrity dies suddenly and unexpectedly, it is understandable that there will be immediate overwhelming attention focused upon that individual by every segment of the news media world. This intense coverage, of course, is markedly increased if the death is violent and controversial.
No matter how well organized and experienced the official governmental medicolegal investigative office in charge of the case may be, the pressures brought to bear in such matters are vastly different from routine, usual cases, even those of an atypical nature that do not involve famous people.
The smallest, non-malevolent procedural error can be blown completely out of proportion and may survive even after the death has been officially adjudicated. It is therefore imperative that the individuals in charge, i.e., law enforcement, forensic scientists, and governmental leaders, initiate appropriate measures to ensure that the death investigation is conducted in a thorough, meticulous, objective, and unbiased fashion, utilizing the most experienced and competent members of their respective staffs.
As in every medicolegal death investigation, the basic objectives of the forensic scientific office will be the determination of the cause and manner of death. Of course, there will be numerous, additional, important related aspects of the case to be evaluated and addressed that will involve other people, e.g., relatives, attending ante-mortem clinical physicians, witnesses, etc.
In my presentation, various examples of both procedural and substantive errors, premature rulings, professional/personal bias, and intricate political influence and manipulation will be presented that were involved in major cases of international interest involving famous celebrities and prominent political leaders.
Medicine and Law (2018) 37:2(2) (Guest Editor: Oren Asman), WAML and The Bioethics and Law Initiative, Tel Aviv University.
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