Srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo 2015 Volume 143, Issue 9-10, Pages: 623-625
https://doi.org/10.2298/SARH1510623A
Full text ( 180 KB)
Not to declare dead someone still alive: Case reports
Anđelić Slađana (Municipal Institute for Emergency Medicine Service, Belgrade)
Savić Slobodan (School of Medicine, Institute for Forensic Medicine, Belgrade)
Introduction. Diagnosing death represents an activity that carries a great
deal of public responsibility for medical professionals and is continually
exposed to the control of citizens and media. Although this is a taboo
subject in medical circles, unfortunately in medical practice there are
situations when the physician issues a death diagnosis form without even
examining the person or for an already buried person. Such physician’s action
is impermissible and it leads to the possibility of professional and criminal
law punishment. Case Outline. By giving examples from practice, we wish to
point out the need for exceptional caution when confirming and diagnosing
death in order to diagnose the true, i.e. rule out apparent death and
consequently avoid the mistake of declaring dead someone still alive.
Conclusion. When confirming and declaring death, exceptional caution of the
physician is necessary so as not to declare dead someone still alive!
Keywords: death diagnosis, alive, dead, cases presentation, apparent death