These academic recognitions should not lead to the assumption that forensic medicine has entered a perfectly enlightened era. Their development has always been turbulent academically and against the intellectual tide of the time. For example, in the period from 1620 to 1720, a serious topic of discussion in medical and medico-legal circles was whether a woman could be impregnated by the devil or in a dream.9 In fact, in one case, French judges legitimized a child in a case where the husband was separated from the mother for four years. on the grounds that the child owed his paternity to a dream. Until 1726, it was taught that in the presence of the murderer, the wounds of his victim would “open his mouth frozen and bleed again.” The courts would accept testimony from medical experts about this miraculous bleeding from the body. The bones of excavated animals would be used to convict men of murder. The highest forensic authorities advocated belief in ghosts, witches and possession by the devil. They allied themselves with the clergy until 1752, denouncing all unbelievers in these commandments as heretics and atheists. The authorities also recommended that thousands of mentally ill people be persecuted, drowned and burned, because they were, after all, “arsonists from hell” who were “moved and seduced by the incitement of the devil.” In fact, things did not go well.7 In Italy, Hugo de Lucca was sworn in as a forensic expert in 1249. Medical reports from this period show that autopsies were performed to determine the cause of death. In 1209, Pope Innocent III arranged for the appointment of physicians to the courts to determine injuries.
In Germany, a comprehensive penal code was introduced in 1507, which required proof of the cause of all violent deaths. It allowed the opening of corpses and represented a step forward towards the practice of forensic autopsies and the development of forensic medicine as an independent professional discipline. In the 17th century it became a subject of special education and at the beginning of the 18th century designated chairs of forensic medicine were established in German universities. It was at this time that the first applications of medical observations were made, which were exclusively for justice. The hydrostatic test to determine whether a child was born alive has been used for suspected infanticide.11 In 1985, Eugene Schneller and Terry Weiner published their findings on individuals who had earned a dual MD/J.D. degree, noting that interprofessional education in law and medicine remains a relatively rare phenomenon in the United States. They concluded that . Without the development of institutionalized career lines and acceptance of interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving, MD/JDs must negotiate their jobs and job descriptions within a professional structure that rewards disciplinary efforts. The marginal status of the interprofessional specialist persisted into the 1980s [Ref. 24, p.
337]. A combined MD/J.D. program is probably not the most effective way to teach law students medical concepts, and it is doubtful that many students are willing to undertake such a long period of study. Moreover, there is more than enough to learn in both areas.24 However, the teaching of forensic problems in our country`s medical schools has not been as quick and comprehensive as one would like. Although many respected authorities in the field have long insisted that the active teaching of forensic pathology is a responsibility and duty of our medical schools to their medical students, most medical schools have been slow to heed this advice. In 1951, a respected authority in the field, Dr. William E. B. Hall, before the Academy of Forensic Sciences, declared that American medical schools had been largely neglected in their duty.26 Hall believed that medical students received only superficial indoctrination in the rights and duties of the physician, the rights of the patient. the various aspects of misconduct and the role of the courts. Hall explained: “We ask our medical schools to educate our students, that they best recognize some of the medico-legal aspects of the various contacts in this practice, that they are better able to avoid misinterpretations of the facts and observations of a case, that they recognize when more competent advice and assistance is needed, so that the innocent are not prosecuted unnecessarily and that the activities of the Justice is promoted [Ref. 26, p.
555]. It is not the same as medical law. The diagnosis of a disease is purely clinical and is not a medical right. Similarly, artificial insemination or telesurgery is purely clinical and not medical. However, discussing the possible harm to a patient and the legal implications of performing a new diagnostic or therapeutic procedure without informed consent is a matter of medical law, while the use of medical methods and techniques to help the judiciary clarify legal responsibilities is a matter of forensic pathology. Forensics: The branch of medicine that deals with the application of medical knowledge to legal problems and legal proceedings. Forensic pathology is also called forensics. In the United States, the first lecturer in forensic pathology was Dr. J. S.
Stringham, der ab etwa 1804 seine Vorlesungen in New York hielt.12 1813 wurde der erste Lehrstuhl für medizinische Jurisprudenz vom College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York City eingerichtet und von demselben Dr. Stringham besetzt. 1815 ernannte das College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of New York Dr. T. R. Beck zum Professor der Institutes of Medicine und Lecturer on Medical Jurisprudence.13 Im selben Jahr ernannte das Medical Department der Harvard University Dr.
