Evening Post. MONDAY. JULY 24, 1893. POST MORTEMS.

Evening Post, Volume XLVI, Issue 20, 24 July 1893, Page 2

Evening Post. MONDAY. JULY 24, 1893. POST MORTEMS.

Thi Department of Justice, and not tlio Coronor, it appears, is responsible for the pernicious practice on which we recently " commented of employing the medical man , jn attendance during life to mako tbo pott mortem examination when an inquest ia held. Economy is alleged as tho justification. Under the regulations a medical witness gets £1 Is for giving evidenco whon a post mortem has not been made, and £3 3s when he makes a post mortem. It is alleged that by employing tho medical attendant on tho deceased to mako tho pott mortem a. guinea is saved. As tho fees payable aro fixed not by Act, but by Order-in-Council, this difficulty could of conrso bo easily pro- • vided for, Cut oven if it should cost tho country a guinea extra tlio proper conrso should be taken, and post mortem examinations be entrusted to an independent medical man who has had no pait in tho treatment of I the case prior to death. The object of a poft mortem is to ascertain from after-death appearances whathas been the causeof death. Tho examination should be approached I and made without any prejudice, interest, ' or bias. A medical man who has attended > tho patient during life must necessarily 1 have formed his own opinions and theories > as to the injnry or ailment. He treats the case in accordance with these views. If death comes, and the pott mortem is eu1 trusted to him, ho naturally approaches tho r work with strong preoonceptions, and seeks for confirmation of Mb preconceived views. s If it should chanco that the % ost mortem examination doos not bear out those views, what a terrible position must the medical man be placed in. If he gives truthful evidence, Jie may possibly have to conviot bim■olf of error in diagnosis or treatment, lt is a position in which no man ought to bo placed. No man ought to be mode a judge in bis own case. Tho cause of death should ■ bo asoertained by a qualified independent i authority, judgingsolely trompostmorCeinap- • pearances, and having no responsibility rosti ing on him in regard to tho treatment of the . case_. If under the present arrangoments a ' medical man making a post mortem, should ; find evidence that he bad made a serious ' mistake in hie treatment, tho temptation to i prevent his error becoming known might ■ provo almost irresistible. With a lay i Coroner and a lay jury nothing would bo : easier than, without saying a word whioh I was not literally true, to prevent tho real ; facts bocoming known. Neither Coroner 1 nor ja'ryraon are usually able to cross-examine ■ the medical witnoss, or to extract further > information than ho chooses to givo them, - and this often in scientific language which they do not undorstand. When it was tho custom for Coronoi-3 to be qualified medical > men, of conrso, thore was somo check on the medical tvidonoe. Now thero is nono, and the provision of tho Act whioh forbids a medical man who has heated a caso making or assisting to mako tho post mortem if it appears to tho Coroner that death was , probably oansed partly or entirely by his improper or negligent treatment, is a mere farce. How is a lay Coroner to form i any opinion on such a subjoct ? Ho must hesitate to act on any suspicions cvon, as to do so would bo to imply a charge against the medical attendant. If the proper practice of always omploying an indopendent medical man to make tbo post mot-tern were pnrsued there" wonld be no refleotion whatever on tbo medical attendant, and he would naturally attend the post mortem, although not making or assisting to ■ mako it. We should think that members of , tho medical profession would, for their own protection and repute, desire that an independent pott mortem examination should always be made when ono is ueocssary at all. It would plaoo tho medical attendant beyond all suspicion or reproach. Tho Medical Association might well take the matter up, and mako leprcsentations npon it to tho , Government. To require a modioal man 'to mako a pott mortem in a case he has attended is to place him in an unmistakably false position. If the present practioe is not discontinued, there will some day arise a serious scandal, and if a Jadgo ;of the Supreme Court is ever i required to express an opinion on the subject we may be pretty sure that it will not be favourable to the practioe of employing a mediaal man to roview hi» own work. Tke Ah Chino ease pointed the impropriety of

llou ins the medical officer of an Asylum to nake the post i.ioilem m casos resulting 1> .itiilly in the institution. Dr. FooKb might t! mve prevented the full facts in that case v rom becoming known bad ho been s>o h nchucd. It was, of course, greatly to bia o ;iodit that bo voluntarily brought out tbo o .vholo of the facts, but other men in a like a position might not bo so candid. It should v not bo left to their discretion or enndour to r biin? all tlio facts before the jury. Wo t übscno that in Auckland, quilo recently, i exception his. been most properly taken to \ Asvluui ii-- morlems being made by c the i.udicil iiPic'r ot tun Asylum. We commend the .snlijtrt to the attention ot . Parliament, but a-> I ailitiment ia piohahly too busy with Party squabbles and personal J ' '(.laiigi'ng matches' ' to attend to us.of ul things, i\ edo not muko tlio appaal with any supor- ] abundant contidonco. It will pprhnus bo ] more effectual to appeal to such ot out \ readors as may be called to servo on 1 Coionors' juries in any case whore :i post- ] mortem is necessary. Juijmon in all such ; cases should insist on independent medical evidence, and refnso to give a verdict until it is forthcoming. If one or two juries took this proper stand, tlio present most improper practice throughout tbo colony, pursued only to save an extra mcdiciil witness' fee, would speodily be abandoned.