How does forensic pathology fit in with pathology as a medical science?
A. This is getting into some controversy, so let me reiterate that this is my opinion only. All areas of pathology outside of forensic pathology are subject to peer review, by which the pathologist’s work is formally reviewed and criticized by other pathologists. This is not uniformly true of forensic pathology. To a general pathologist, who is held to a near-100% accuracy rate in his or her diagnoses, the report of the findings of a forensic pathologist can read more like speculation than determination. The thinking that goes into the assessment of the cause and manner of death, as well as time of death, can appear very subjective in comparison to the thinking involved in clinical decisions on living patients. Furthermore, in the U.S. legal system, the only check on the accuracy of the forensic pathologist is the counsel for the criminal defendant.
A. This is getting into some controversy, so let me reiterate that this is my opinion only. All areas of pathology outside of forensic pathology are subject to peer review, by which the pathologist’s work is formally reviewed and criticized by other pathologists. This is not uniformly true of forensic pathology. To a general pathologist, who is held to a near-100% accuracy rate in his or her diagnoses, the report of the findings of a forensic pathologist can read more like speculation than determination. The thinking that goes into the assessment of the cause and manner of death, as well as time of death, can appear very subjective in comparison to the thinking involved in clinical decisions on living patients. Furthermore, in the U.S. legal system, the only check on the accuracy of the forensic pathologist is the counsel for the criminal defendant. While all such defendants have the Constitutional right to counsel, this right does not include the right to the services of a forensic pa
