ESSENTIAL FORENSIC MEDICINE

Preface
The Editors
Contributors
Acknowledgements
1. The legal system, courts and witnesses
2. Investigation of the deceased and their lawful disposal
3. The duties of a registered medical practitioner and the General Medical Council
4. General principles of scene examination
5. The medico-legal autopsy
6. Interpretation of injuries – general principles, classification and age estimation
7. Blunt impact trauma
8. Sharp force trauma
9. Firearms and explosion injuries
10. Forensic aspects of Asphyxia and drowning
11. Forensic medical aspects of human rights issues
12. Sexual offences
13. Paediatric forensic medicine
14. Sudden natural death
15. Heat, cold and electricity
16. Diagnosing death and changes after death
17. Identification – general principles including anthropology, fingerprints and the investigation of mass deaths
18. Use of DNA in human identification
19. Forensic odontology and human identification
20. Crime and mental health/forensic psychiatry
21. Maternal deaths
22. The examination of detainees and death in custody
23. Forensic toxicology: clinic-pathological aspects and medico-legal issues
24. Illicit drug use

Provides an invaluable distillation of key topics in forensic medicine for undergraduate, masters, and postgraduate students
Essential Forensic Medicine covers the broad area of the forensic medical sciences, delivering core knowledge in the biomedical sciences, and the law and ethics surrounding them. Concise, accessible chapters cover a wide range of topics from basic forensic identification and examination techniques to forensic toxicology and psychiatry.
Written by internationally-recognized experts in the field, this authoritative guide offers complete chapter coverage of the legal system, courts, and witnesses; investigation of the deceased and their lawful disposal; and the duties of a registered medical practitioner and the General Medical Council. It instructs readers on the general principles of scene examination and the medico-legal autopsy including how to interpret the many kinds of injuries one can suffer—including those from blunt impact and sharp force, firearms and explosives, asphyxia and drowning. Further chapters cover sexual offences, child abuse, and using DNA in human identification, mental health, alcohol and drug abuse.
• A fresh, accessible, up to date textbook on forensic medicine
• Written by a well-known experts with decades of experience in the field
• Includes numerous figures and tables, and detailed lists of key information
• Features numerous case studies to reinforce key concepts and ideas explored within the book
• Helps students to prepare for examinations and enables practitioners to broaden their understanding of the discipline
Part of the “Essential Forensic Science” series, Essential Forensic Medicine is a highly useful guide for advanced undergraduate students, master’s students, and new practitioners to the field.

Authors
• Professor Peter Vanezis, MB, ChB, MD, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Forensic Medical Sciences and Former Director of Cameron Forensic Medical Sciences at Barts and the London, UK. Former Regius Professor of Forensic Medicine and Science, University of Glasgow. He is a Fellow of The Royal College of Pathologists, Fellow of Royal College of Physicians of Glasgow, Fellow of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine, and Fellow of the Chartered Society of Forensic Scientists. Peter Vanezis was awarded an OBE for Forensic Pathology Services in Kosovo.
• Dr. Philip S.L. Beh is Clinical Associate Professor at the Department of Pathology, The University of Hong Kong, China. He is involved in the review of cases involving death from accidents, suicides, and homicides. Dr. Beh works with many professional bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. He is an Honorary Advisor to Rain-Lily, Hong Kong’s first multidisciplinary rape crisis center.