FORENSIC MEDICINE IN-HOSPITAL

The reform of teaching hospitals which integrates all the hospital dis ciplines has been responsible for the creation of forensic medicine un its in hospitals. Several solutions have been proposed; in Lyon this o rganisation has been set up within the framework of medical emergency units as that is effectively where there are the most forensic problem s to solve. This integration is beneficial for our discipline : it is thus possible to set up a permanent service 24 hours a day, 7 days a w eek, at the disposal of the justice department and the police, and it opens the possibility of doing extra examinations like X-rays or getti ng the opinion of a specialist such as an ophtalmologist. But the fore nsic pathologist in hospital can help his colleagues to draw up a diff icult certificate or give advice concerning medical law : it must be r emembered that forensic medicine is not only a link between medicine a nd law in matters of experts' reports or certificates, it also establi shes the same fink between the legal world and medicine. This integrat ion has allowed the development of clinical forensis medicine and a be tter understanding of the needs of the general practitioner in this ar ea.This national experience has been broadcast in periodicals such as Journal de medecine legale et Droit medical (Journal of forensic medic ine and Medical Law) and books published by Editions A. Lacassagne of wich I am in charge.