MEDICOLEGAL PROBLEMS IN DISTINGUISHING ACCIDENT FROM SUICIDE
Authors: O RICHARDSON, H S BREYFOGLE
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1946)

Article1 July 1946MEDICOLEGAL PROBLEMS IN DISTINGUISHING ACCIDENT FROM SUICIDEORVILLE RICHARDSON, J. D., HERBERT S. BREYFOGLE, M.D.ORVILLE RICHARDSON, J. D.Search for more papers by this author, HERBERT S. BREYFOGLE, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-25-1-22 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptIINTRODUCTORY†Substantial rights, duties, and penalties created by statute, contract or the common law and affecting life, liberty, and property often depend upon whether a death was caused or hastened by disease, accident, suicide or homicide or some combination of these causes. In the investigation of any sudden death one should consider all possibilities, and never, at the outset, arbitrarily limit the scope of the inquiry.1Appearances mislead and deceive quite as often in medicolegal investigations as in clinical medicine, and in the former there are additional complicating factors: purposeful simulation to hide crime or obtain money, and the fact that...Additional References1. APPLEMAN JA: Insurance Law and Practice, 1941, West Publishing Co., St. Paul. Google Scholar2. BECKBECK TRJB: Elements of Medical Jurisprudence, 1835, ed. 5, Steele, Skinner, Little & Gould, Albany. Google Scholar3. COOLEY RW: Briefs on the Law of Insurance, ed. 2, 1928, Vernon Law Book Co., Kansas City. Google Scholar4. CORNELIUS MP: Accidental Means, 1932, R. M. Chandor, Publisher, Indianapolis. Google Scholar5. COUCH GJ: Cyclopedia of Insurance Law, 1931, The Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co., Rochester. Google Scholar6. DRAPER FW: Textbook of Legal Medicine, 1910, W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia. Google Scholar7. GLAISTERGLAISTER JJ: Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology, ed. 5, 1931, William Wood & Co., New York. CrossrefGoogle Scholar8. GONZALESVANCEHELPERN TMM: Legal Medicine and Toxicology, 1937, D. Appleton-Century Co., New York. Google Scholar9. HATCHER JS: Textbook of Firearms Investigation, Identification and Evidence, 1935, Small Arms Publishing Co., Marines, North Carolina. Google Scholar10. HERZOG AW: Medical Jurisprudence, 1931, Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis. Google Scholar11. JONES BW: Commentaries on the Law of Evidence, ed. 2, 1926, Bancroft-Whitney Co., San Francisco. Google Scholar12. JOYCE JA: The Law of Insurance, ed. 2, 1918, The Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co., Rochester. Google Scholar13. KERR DA: Forensic Medicine, 1935, A. & C. Black, Ltd., London. Google Scholar14. MCNALLY WD: Toxicology, 1937, Industrial Medicine, Chicago. Google Scholar15. MORITZ AR: The Pathology of Trauma, 1942, Lea & Febiger Co., Philadelphia. Google Scholar16. MORITZDUTRA ARFR: Scientific evidence in cases of injury by gunfire, Arch. Path., 1944, xxvii, 340-349. Google Scholar17. PHELPS C: Traumatic Injuries of the Brain and Its Membranes, 1897, D. Appleton Co., New York. Google Scholar18. SMITH S: Forensic Medicine, ed. 5, 1943, J. & A. Churchill, Ltd., London. Google Scholar19. SNYDER L: Homicide Investigation, 1944, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield. Google Scholar20. STEWART GH: Legal Medicine, 1910, Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis. Google Scholar21. TAYLOR AS: Medical Jurisprudence, ed. 12 (Amer.), 1897, edited by Clark Bell, Lea Brothers, New York. Google Scholar22. VANDE GRIFT WB: Suicide and homicide by violence, Med. Clin. North Am., 1941, xxv, 423. CrossrefGoogle Scholar23. WALKER JT: Bullet holes and chemical residues in shooting cases, Jr. Crim. Law and Criminology, 1940, xxxi, 497. Google Scholar24. WEBSTER RH: Legal Medicine and Toxicology, 1930, W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia. Google Scholar25. WHARTONSTILLÉ FM: Medical Jurisprudence, ed. 3, 1873, Kay and Brother, Philadelphia. Google Scholar26. WITTHAUSBECKER RATC: Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, ed. 2, 1906, William Wood & Co., New York. Google Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: St. Louis, Missouri*Received for publication April 1, 1946.From the Medicolegal Department of St. Louis County, Missouri, the firm of Jones, Hocker, Gladney and Grand, Attorneys, St. Louis, Missouri, and the Department of Pathology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.†Well-known and authoritative general sources, both legal and medical, are listed at the end of the paper under Additional References. Footnotes giving the author's last name with a page citation will refer the reader to the Additional References for the title, edition, year of publication, and publisher.1Most texts on medical jurisprudence have introductory chapters giving good advice concerning the investigation which should be conducted at the scene of violence and upon postmortem examination. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited bySexual Fatalities: Behavioral Reconstruction in Equivocal CasesSuicidal intentions expressed in telephone calls to the Personal Emergency Advisory Service 1 July 1946Volume 25, Issue 1Page: 22-65KeywordsAutopsyCrimeHomicideSuicide ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 July 1946 PDF downloadLoading ...