The provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law on autopsy:
Article 128
Investigators shall conduct an inquest or inspection on places, articles, persons and corpses related to crimes. When necessary, people with specialized knowledge may be appointed or hired to conduct inquests and inspections under the auspices of investigators.
Article 131
For a corpse with unknown cause of death, the public security organ has the right to decide on the autopsy and notify the family of the deceased to be present.
In judicial practice, autopsy should be carried out within 48 hours after the death of the patient, and it can be extended to 7 days if it meets the requirements of cryopreservation. What needs to be emphasized here is that medical disputes are civil cases, and the forensic department of the public security organ does not intervene, so the autopsy is carried out in the pathological anatomy room of the medical college, so the autopsy must go beyond the medical college system affiliated to the hospital itself to ensure its fairness.
second, who will apply for an autopsy when the patient dies?
if there is any objection to the cause of death, the objecting party shall apply for an autopsy. However, in the case that the cause of death cannot be determined, it is not stipulated which party applies. According to the requirement of the inversion of burden of proof in the rules of civil evidence, the hospital should apply for autopsy, and the family members of the patient can't refuse, otherwise they will bear the legal responsibility of failing to provide evidence.
3. What identification can I apply for at the same time of autopsy?
In some suspected cases of nurse's medication error, the blood samples of the deceased should be taken, and the toxicology identification should be carried out at the same time, and the spectral waveform analysis should be carried out to see if there are any drug components prescribed by the doctor's advice in the body of the deceased.
fourth, whether the family members can be present at the autopsy.
In order to ensure the fairness of the autopsy process, family members can be present. However, considering that family members are often not medical professionals, it is difficult to make a professional judgment on whether the process conforms to the medical autopsy procedure, and the particularity of the autopsy site makes their feelings unbearable, it is suggested that family members can appoint doctors, friends or medical lawyers to observe the autopsy process.
5. What should the family members pay attention to after autopsy?
Before the autopsy report comes out, the family members should ask the autopsy department in writing not to destroy the organ specimens of the deceased and pay attention to keeping them properly. If you are not satisfied with the autopsy conclusion in the future, your family members can also apply for a review.
1. Autopsy should be approved by family members first.
2. Family members have the right to know the autopsy results.
3. The investigation stage can be extended if difficulties are encountered.
4. If the public security organ does not act, it can complain to the public security supervision department.
The law on the autopsy expenses of the deceased in criminal cases stipulates that
The public security organ is responsible for the first appraisal of criminal cases, and no one needs to pay for it; If there is any objection to the appraisal opinion, the party applying for re-appraisal shall pay the appraisal fee. If the appraisal conclusion is consistent with the first time, the fee will not be refunded. If the appraisal opinion is inconsistent with the first time, the public security organ shall pay the fee and return it to the original applicant.