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What are the Benefits of Post-mortem examination or Autopsy
Autopsy provides tangible and psychological benefits to the family of the deceased. Finding out the exact cause of death is often required for insurance claims.
Genetic or environmental causes of disease that may affect others related to the deceased may be revealed by an autopsy.
Autopsy aids in finding out missed diagnoses and help in preventing repetition of these medical errors in future cases. Thus it helps in improving the quality of medical care for other similar patients. Mortality statistics can be created. Death certificates in the absence of autopsy findings often yield inaccurate data.
References:
- The Essentials of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Dr. K. S. Narayan Reddy
Did you know that Legionnaire's disease was discovered as a result of autopsy. In 1976 34 of the 221 delegates died when they attended an American Legion conference in Philadelphia. Food poisoning was ruled out and after this it became apparent that they had inhaled a bacterium Legionella on autopsies.