Text-book of forensic medicine and toxicologyBuchanan, R. J. M. (Robert James McLean)
Science
Text-book of forensic medicine and toxicology
Buchanan, R. J. M. (Robert James McLean)
Medical jurisprudence; Poisons
By consent of the Local Government Board the Health Authorities may add
other diseases as occasion may require for a time or permanently. Of
these due notice is given to medical men. Tuberculosis and ophthalmia
neonatorum are now notifiable. The fee for the certificate in private
practice is 2_s._ 6_d._, if in a public institution, 1_s._ Failure to
certify renders the medical man liable to a penalty of 40_s._
=Notification of Tuberculosis.=--As mentioned previously, tuberculosis
is now a disease notification of which is compulsory. Special forms are
provided for the purpose.
=Notification of Industrial Diseases.=--Under the Factory and Workshop
Act, 1901, every case of lead, phosphorus, arsenical, or mercurial
poisoning, or anthrax, if contracted in a factory or workshop must be
notified by the practitioner in attendance on the case. The certificate
must be sent to the Chief Inspector of Factories at the Home Office,
London. The fee for notification is 2_s._ 6_d._ Other diseases may be
added to the list by special order of the Home Office.
=Written Opinions.=--These generally refer to civil questions.
=The Medical Report.=--A _Report_ is a document given in obedience to a
demand by the public authorities in Scotland, and has reference chiefly
to criminal cases. Medical Reports are sworn to as true by those who
draw them up. According to Alison, it is not a sufficient objection
that a Medical Report was made up at an interval after the occurrence
of the circumstances to which it refers. The same high authority also
states that should the writer of a Medical Report die before the trial,
his Report may be used in evidence,--this may be doubted.
The necessity for simplicity in the arrangement and in the wording of
their Reports cannot be too strongly urged on medical men. “A medical
witness will do well to remember, also, that copies of his Report and
depositions, either before a coroner or a magistrate, are usually
placed in the hands of counsel as well as of the Court; and that his
evidence, as it is given at the trial, is compared word for word with
that which has already been put on record.” All hearsay statements and
irrelevant matter should not be inserted in a Report; and the reporter
should be particularly careful not to add any comments to his simple
narration of facts. The use of superlatives is also very objectionable,
as it partakes somewhat of exaggeration. All technical words or phrases
should be as much as possible avoided; and where they are absolutely
necessary, they should be briefly explained.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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