Declining clinical autopsy rates versus increasing medicolegal autopsy rates in Halifax, Nova Scotia: Why the difference? A historical perspective

From: Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine | Date: July 1, 2001| Author: | Copyright information

Historical Perspective

Why the Difference? A Historical Perspective

The downward trend in the rate of clinical autopsies has been extensively documented in the literature. This decline is of concern when the benefits of the clinical autopsy are considered. In contrast, the rate of medicolegal autopsies has not been studied in such detail. What little reference there is to medicolegal autopsy rates suggests an absence of the same downward trend. A retrospective review of autopsy data over a 13-year period from the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and from ...

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