Keywords
Medico-legal report; Child protection; Expert opinion; suspicious injury
Abstract
Paediatricians with child protection responsibilities evaluate allegations of physical harm and sexual abuse which are subject to both child protection and criminal investigations. This evaluation requires the production of an interim medico-legal report which contributes to interim decisions regarding the safety of the child whilst investigations are still in progress. A second report may be needed at a later time once investigations are considered complete. The interim medico-legal report contributes an expert opinion about injury causation including direct harm or harm through neglect or substandard care which has relevance to mitigating future risk of harm and understanding the support needs of a family. This paper defines key principles in relation to the structure and content of an interim medico-legal report, which must conform to forensic standards of practice. A classification of injury causation for interim medico-legal reports is proposed which can be useful to systematically define outcomes for data collection, audit and research purposes.
Citation
Skellern C and Connors J. Classifying Injury Causation in Interim Medico-Legal Reports Following Forensic Evaluation of Suspicious Childhood Injury. SM J Pediatr. 2017; 2(1): 1007.