FORENSIC AUTOPSIES FROM 1984 TO 1993 IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA

In Austria every death is subject to an examination by a medical docto r authorized by the local health authority. If death is suspected to b e unnatural and/or perpetrated by another person, this doctor has to r eport it to the police. Depending on the investigation results, the ex amining magistrate in charge demands a judicial autopsy at the Institu te of Forensic Medicine. In 1989, 41 murders of old patients by nursin g assistants in a Viennese public hospital were disclosed. The main ai m of this retrospective study was to determine any change in the deman d for forensic autopsies by the Viennese health authority, as well as by the criminal court, after 1989. Furthermore, it was of interest to analyze the reporting practices of medical doctors examining corpses, as well as the reaction of the criminal court during the study period. After 1989, there was a significant increase of non-judicial and judi cial autopsies, performed by Viennese forensic pathologists. In additi on, there was a significant increase of reports to the police by coron ers as well as by forensic pathologists, paralleled by a higher rate o f forensic autopsies demanded by the examining magistrate. This increa se of forensic autopsies took place even though the overall rate of de aths in Vienna significantly decreased during the 10-year study period . Thus, the disclosure of 41 murders in the Viennese hospital in 1989 can be assumed as a turning point in the reporting practices of Vienne se coroners, as well as the autopsy rate handled by Viennese forensic pathologists.