Relating to aspects of medicine and law that overlap. Among the matters on which medicolegal experts advise are the laws concerning damages for injuries due to medical negligence or malpractice, evidence concerning the extent of injury in a civil action, the use of paternity tests, the mental competence of people who have drawn up wills, and restrictions on the mentally ill.
Medicolegal issues also include an individual’s right to die (see brain death; euthanasia; living will); the necessity for informed consent to any surgical procedure; the legal aspects of artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, sterilization, and surrogacy; and a patient’s right to confidentiality concerning his or her illness. (For the medical aspects of criminal law, see forensic medicine.)
A term that relates to the practice of medicine and law (see FORENSIC MEDICINE; MEDICAL LITIGATION; MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE).
adj. relating to the legal aspects of the practice of medicine. There has been rapid expansion of the branch of the law relating to medicine due to the increasing number of court actions for accidents and injuries, many of them seeking compensation for negligence by doctors or hospitals.
(necropsy, post mortem) n. a review of the clinical history of a deceased person followed by external examination of the body, evisceration and dissection of the internal organs, and ancillary investigations (such as histopathology, microbiology, or toxicology) to determine the cause of death. Autopsies may be performed on the instruction of a medicolegal authority or at the request of clinicians (with consent of the family). In addition to determining the cause of death, autopsies have a role in research, audit, clinical governance, and medical education.... autopsy
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