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The Medicolegal Physical Examination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Extract

Medical examinations and evaluations by physicians specifically undertaken to provide information for the processing of insurance and legal claims are essential to the proper functioning of our insurance and legal systems. Since such evaluations often emphasize aspects of the medical examination and employ reasoning not customarily addressed by physicians who are primarily concerned with diagnosis and treatment, the distinguishing features of these medicolegal examinations should be appreciated by physicians asked to perform this type of examination. Similarly, these features should also be understood by persons who interpret medical data and physicians' opinions in resolving claims involving such medical issues as cause-and-effect relationships and disability ratings.

Type
Forensic Medicine
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1980

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Footnotes

Forensic Medicine comprises that branch of medicine that deals with the application of medical science to questions of law. Historically, the scope of this discipline was restricted to pathologists' investigations to establish the causes of death and to identify the physical consequences of traumatic injuries resulting from accidents or violent crimes. However, in the past several decades, changing concepts of liability and expanding interrelationships of law and medicine have vastly increased the number and scope of medical issues that must be resolved by the courts and administrative agencies. Today, many members of the legal profession and the judiciary must be familiar with the forensic counterpart of every clinical specialry and subspecialty to adjudicate properly the myriad of medicolegal problems presented to them in the course of their professional activities.

To assist physicians called upon to perform medical evaluations specifically for legal and insurance purposes, attorneys who prosecute and defend such claims, and insurance company personnel and adjudicators who must resolve disputed medical issues, MEDICOLEGAL NEWS presents this ongoing series on Forensic Medicine. Of necessity, an interdisciplinary approach has been taken in covering the subject matter. Accordingly, members of a given profession may, at times, find that some of the material is presented in a somewhat elementary manner and, in such instances, we ask indulgence.