Clinical Forensic Medicine

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. History and Development of Clinical Forensic Medicine

   • Jason Payne-James

   Pages 1-36

3. Fundamental Principles

   • Roy N. Palmer

   Pages 37-60

4. Sexual Assault Examination

   • Deborah Rogers, Mary Newton

   Pages 61-126

5. Injury Assessment, Documentation, and Interpretation

   • Jason Payne-James, Jack Crane, Judith A. Hinchliffe

   Pages 127-158

6. Nonaccidental Injury in Children

   • Amanda Thomas

   Pages 159-177

7. Crowd-Control Agents

   • Kari Blaho-Owens

   Pages 179-193

8. Medical Issues Relevant to Restraint

   • Nicholas Page

   Pages 195-204

9. Care of Detainees

   • Guy Norfolk, Margaret M. Stark

   Pages 205-234

10. Infectious Diseases

    • Felicity Nicholson

    Pages 235-283

11. Substance Misuse

    • Margaret M. Stark, Guy Norfolk

    Pages 285-326

12. Deaths in Custody

    • Richard Shepherd

    Pages 327-350

13. Traffic Medicine

    • Ian F. Wall, Steven B. Karch

    Pages 351-385

14. Back Matter

    Pages 387-438

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The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), now in its 175th year, has a long tradition of working with doctors. In fact, the origin of the forensic p- sician (police surgeon) as we know him or her today, dates from the passing by Parliament of The Metropolitan Act, which received Royal Assent in June of 1829. Since then, there are records of doctors being “appointed” to the police to provide medical care to detainees and examine police officers while on duty. The MPS has been involved in the training of doctors for more than 20 years, and has been at the forefront of setting the highest standards of wo- ing practices in the area of clinical forensic medicine. Only through an awa- ness of the complex issues regarding the medical care of detainees in custody and the management of complainants of assault can justice be achieved. The MPS, therefore, has worked in partnership with the medical profession to ensure that this can be achieved. The field of clinical forensic medicine has developed in recent years into a specialty in its own right. The importance of properly trained doctors working with the police in this area cannot be overemphasized. It is essential for the protection of detainees in police custody and for the benefit of the criminal justice system as a whole. A book that assists doctors in the field is to be applauded.

• alcohol
• assessment
• care
• children
• development
• diseases
• documentation
• drugs
• forensic medicine
• infection
• infectious
• infectious disease
• infectious diseases
• medicine

"The book is a reliable guide for practical forensic case work...recommended to physicians, forensic pathologists, and police officers." - Institute of Legal Medicine

Reviews of the First edition:

"This is the best textbook of clinical forensic medicine ever. It is essential reading for students and practitioners within this developing specialty. It is a most valuable guide and I unreservedly recommend it to all readers of this journal. It is written by a team of professionals from both sides of the Atlantic. The sexual examination (chapter 3) is covered exhaustively and includes 191 references. Similarly the chapter on substance abuse (Stark and Norfolk) covers the subject with great detail and includes 171 references. Traffic medicine, deaths in custody, crowd control agents and NAI are all given first class attention. The book itself has been beautifully printed on good paper. The text is clear and the proof reading cannot be faulted. I strongly advise all medico-legalists, police surgeons and forensic medical practitioners (including GPs) to have this textbook (it is more than a guide) on their shelves. It is required reading for all those who aspire to be forensic physicians or consultants-both in the US and the UK. Many in the allied professions will be well-advised to have access to this book. The Series Editor Karch and Editor Stark together with the Humana Press deserve warm congratulations from us for this superb textbook. The format and the clarity are so appealing. It deserves tremendous success." -Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine

"One of the more useful features is a section on the principles of forensic medicine, a topic not typically covered in medical education. Two other topics covered in detail are sexual assault and traffic medicine, both of which have a good deal of relevant forensics not often understood by practitioners...This is a well-written text by an authoritative set of contributors. It is the first such book I have come across which is aimed at physicians." -Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal

"In this day and age, all health care professionals need to be "forensically aware," especially when it comes to injury interpretation. This book offers basic guidelines on dealing wit fundamental principles of consent, confidentiality, note keeping court reports, and court attendance." -Consultant

"...the editor and authors provide a comprehensive and up to date review of the current understanding of clinical forensic medicine. The text is divided logically into ten concise, easy to read chapters, some of which contain very useful "good practice tips."...The editor should be commended for brining together the wealth of experience of several months in a concise, easily readable and highly informative book on a subject of considerable importance not only to workers in the field of clinical forensic medicine but to many other health care professionals." -Resuscitation

"...the clinical perspective of this very readable text makes it a useful and needed reference...this book is a welcome edition to a discipline that has few publications accessible to the clinician...it is recommended for most hospital and all academic medical libraries." -E-STREAMS

From the reviews of the second edition:

"With the recent establishment of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians, these are interesting times for clinical forensic medicine. … this book covers topics of interest to pathologists, as well as more traditional ‘police surgeon’ fare. A core skill of forensic physicians and pathologists alike is the assessment, documentation and interpretation of injuries, and a ‘multidisciplinary team’ approach is utilised to provide a concise overview of this important topic." (Dr R Jones, American College of Physicians News, Autumn, 2005)

• The Forensic Medicine Unit, St. George’s Hospital Medical School, London, UK

  Margaret M. Stark

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