The Characteristics of Bruises

  • September 26, 2019 at 10:45 am
What Affects the Appearance of a Bruise? Bruising is one of the most common types of physical injury observed in victims of violence, assault, and abuse. There are several factors that affect a bruise’s appearance, such as: Tissue type Loose connective tissue type sites, such as the eye, face, and genitalia show more bruising. Fat [&hellip Read More...

One Deadly Punch Leads To Prison

  • April 26, 2019 at 1:17 pm
Our faithful readers may remember that I wrote a newsletter back in 2011 called “Can One Punch Kill” but it has been many years since then and I asked one of my nurses to write up a newsletter. Ironically, she dug through some of my ideas and came across the same article. Her take on [&hellip Read More...

Aging a bruise on Autopsy

  • January 30, 2019 at 10:40 am
Those of you who follow me know I have several posts about how you can’t date bruises by color, but there is emerging literature to show that bruises can be dated on tissue analysis: How can a bruise’s age be determined if not by color? Once the bruise is formed, the body reacts by activating [&hellip Read More...

Infection, Delirium, and Homicide

In April, I covered delirium and noted that there are many underlying etiologies that can cause it. One such etiology is infection. Infection and our body Our bodies are constantly fighting infections. Our skin is the first barrier, but we are often exposed to pathogens through open wounds, our respiratory system, or our mouths. Most [&hellip Read More...

What role does Hypoxia play in Criminal Cases? {Assault/Trauma}

For both prosecutors and defense attorneys, it’s often important to know the defendant’s state of mind to litigate the case. If a defendant has a medical condition or traumatic injury that could result in hypoxia it warrants further review by a medical expert to determine if the hypoxia was severe enough to change their mental [&hellip Read More...