HYDERABAD: The state government is contemplating conducting post-mortem examination of dead bodies at all government hospitals. If the plan materialises, Telangana will be the first state in the country to have forensic specialists at constituency-level hospitals.
Forensic doctors, lauding health minister C Laxma Reddy’s announcement that efforts are under way to make arrangements for conducting PMEs at all hospitals, say that it will avoid inflicting a further burden on bereaved families, bring down load on tertiary hospitals’ mortuaries and provide employment to forensic science postgraduates. Further, the quality of PME will improve as it is learnt that forensic specialists will be recruited to conduct the procedures. It is learnt that the government is planning to make provisions to conduct PMEs at the constituency level and around 100 forensic specialists will be recruited.
Currently, post-mortems are conducted in tertiary hospital mortuaries, district hospitals, area hospitals and some Community Health Centres and Primary Health Centres. However, except at tertiary hospitals, MBBS or doctors from specialties other than forensic science perform PMEs in other hospitals which might not always result in accurate post-mortem reports. Forensic doctors say there were instances when MBBS doctors in area hospitals preserved fractured bones and sent them to tertiary hospitals for expert opinion. “In some cases, when a person, who was found hanging, is sent for post-mortem to area hospitals, MBBS doctors might not be able to tell whether it was a suicide or strangulation. In some cases, a fractured bone or thyroid cartilage is preserved and sent to Osmania General Hospital or Gandhi Hospital for forensic experts’ opinion,” forensic doctors say.
Time saving
When family members have to travel from their village to their district or area hospital with the body for post-mortem, a lot of time and money is spent by them. This can be avoided if the contemplated step is taken.If a person from districts other than Hyderabad meets with an accident and dies after getting admitted to Gandhi Hospital or Osmania General Hospital and the body is taken to mortuary after 5 pm, the city police inform the district police concerned about the case. The district police then visits Hyderabad and perform an inquest (investigation into reasons for death). The PME is performed after the inquest.
“All this takes one and a half to two days. If the district police are informed soon after a person’s death and the body is sent to hospital in the deceased person’s home town, the inquest and the post-mortem can be performed there, and the bereaved families don’t have to wait for long,” sources said.
Staff and equipment
Forensic doctors caution that to avoid teething problems, the required staff and equipment should be provided, along with forensic specialists, to the hospitals where post-mortems will be taken up.
Sources say that there were instances of botched PMEs. “In one incident, a stone was used to break open the skull for post-mortem while a saw and a chisel were used in another case. There is specific set of equipment for PME. Staff and equipment need to be provided for conduct of post-mortem examinations,” the sources say.
What to expect
One or two forensic doctors will be appointed to a hospital where PMEs will be conducted
MBBS or doctors with specialisation in other than forensics preserve fractured bone samples and send them to OGH or Gandhi Hospital for forensic expert opinion
Bereaved families don’t have to travel with the dead bodies of their loved ones to district or area hospitals for post-mortems if PMEs are conducted at all hospitals. Money and time can be saved.