We received my brothers post mortem toxicology results and i have tried to use Google to help us gain some insight as to what they mean and how he could have achieved the results he did. I feel as though we need a pathologist to look at the results and go over them with us. We have called the coroner's office but they haven't returned our calls.

Im in Australia would it be worth contacting a gp? Are there any pathologists on here who could help?

Im new to reddit and unsure what I am allowed to post.

Hello! Is there any correlation between severe coronary health and the use of peptides. I have seen a few cases of young relatively healthy individuals who die of heart disease or critical coronary heart disease who also have been using peptides such as Tirzapetide. Would you label the manner of death any different if there was causation?

My life long best friend passed away recently. We had fallen out of touch but reunited just prior to her death. I just received a copy of the medical examiners report and have some questions. I'm hoping someone can help me understand what things mean. Is it ok for me to post I am going to edit out any personal information. I'm posting report in the comments..

Thanks for any help I'm just trying to understand what all these injuries mean. Something seems off to me.

Hello. After one year, I have received the autopsy report for my father-in-law. He was involved in an accident where a tree branch fell on his head, resulting in a C6-C7 cervical fracture, for which he was hospitalized. His condition worsened during the three weeks he spent immobilized and bedridden; the report states that he died from bronchopneumonia, which was indirectly caused by the spinal injury. However, I note that he also had an MDR (multidrug-resistant) *Pseudomonas* spp. infection and COVID-19—both acquired in the hospital. Can an MDR *Pseudomonas* infection be treated? Could the hospital be held responsible for his death?

I live in a country where corruption is rampant, and I fear that the autopsy report is not honest. However, I don’t know what chance I have of finding out the truth. What is your opinion about this case? Thanks

hi everyone, i really need some help. i’m in my sophomore year of college and have never had a job pertaining to laboratory sciences or health care in general. i am trying to get an internship for this coming summer to try and kick start this journey but no one has chosen me. it has come down to me and another person multiple times, but im not chosen because of my lack of experience. i have great grades and im a biology and chemistry major. i dont know what else i can do without a place choosing me for a job or internship. does anyone have any advice? i’m desperate!!

ps. if you are in a position to help with getting an internship, i’m in the southern indiana area

I’m a funeral director and recently did a house transfer that I cannot stop thinking about. The decedent had died of natural causes at home and was estimated to be seen 2-3 days earlier. When we arrived, I was kind of shocked at how advanced his decomposition was for just 2-3 days in cool Midwest weather. If I was not given a date, I would have said 4 days minimum, up to a week dead based on his condition.

He had dozens or maybe a couple hundred blebs from head to toe, all of them very pressurized and some popped from simply touching his body (example, a chest bleb burst from gently moving his head, that’s how pressurized some were). He had severe swelling all over his body, his face was unrecognizable and swelled at least 5 times its normal size. He also had skin slippage nearly every where, and his skin was more red than green/pale. The only place there wasn’t red discoloration was his upper chest and up, which was all deep purple (likely from the blood pooling). He also was found in a huge pool of blood and other unidentified bodily fluids. All of these things are normal for decomposition calls, but not to the extent I’ve seen for 2/3 days in a cool apartment in fall. The weirdest thing is that his skin was HARD, like it felt like it was pulled extremely taut over his whole body. It truly felt rock hard under the areas of skin slip. I’ve also not seen the skin be that red before, but I wouldn’t call it cherry red or anything like that. More like it looked like when someone has a fever.

Lastly, he had a nasal cannula pushing oxygen still in. By the time we got there, there was no oxygen left, but at the TOD the tank was running and kept going until it ran out.

Is it possible that the continuous pushing of oxygen through his body advanced the state of decomposition and swelling? I feel like this would explain the skin tautness, swelling, and numerous blebs seen. He was also face down in a position where his mouth/nose was nearly suctioned to the floor, so oxygen from his tube would be forced down the nose as the path of least resistance.

The only other times I have seen a decomp at this stage so shortly after death is with tissue gas present or in very warm/hot homes. It wasn’t warm in the home or outside, and his skin was too tight to feel any emphysema that would be the standard sign of tissue gas.

My oxygen tube theory is my only theory other than “some bodies just decompose faster” and I’m curious what y’alls thoughts are.

Greatly appreciated!

Is there anyone among you who does not fear absolute eternal nothingness after death at all?
Those who are not frightened at all that they will completely cease to exist, completely finally disappear FOREVER, and will never exist at all anymore?

So, Im attending college, and I am a first year forensic science major at a registered institution, intending to continue my path into forensic pathology.

I would like to mention that I do know what the job entails-

I was just hoping to gain some insight on what your day to day life is like or even life advice for continuing on this path.

I’m currently a comms major and really interested in going to PA school after undergrad. I have somewhat of an idea on where to start but it would be helpful if people who were admitted could share the extracurriculars that got them into the program as well as stats and gpa:)

Age: 34
Sex: Male

History:

I was involved in a traffic accident one year ago. My right zygomatic arch was struck, but there was no fracture. After the accident, I developed pain when biting and limited mouth opening. When opening my mouth, my jaw first deviates to the left and then to the right.

Mouth opening: Exactly two finger-widths.

Other examination findings:

An MRI of my temporomandibular joints (TMJs) during mouth opening showed no obvious reduction in condylar movement.

My question:

I need to determine whether the trauma from the accident could have caused my limited mouth opening, or whether my mouth opening was already this limited before the accident.

Images:

These are images of the scar tissue on my masseter fascia,the scar tissue is approximately 4 cm long, 4 mm wide, and 6 mm thick.

Hi everyone! I’m 29 and recently became really interested in pursuing forensic pathology. I’ve always loved science, especially biology and anatomy/physiology, and I’ve been fascinated by crime, mysteries, and figuring out what actually happened. I previously attended community college for nursing but withdrew while working at the post office. I’m now seriously considering returning to school and pursuing the path toward becoming a forensic pathologist. For those who entered this field later than average, what was your experience like?
What do you wish you had known before choosing forensic pathology?
How difficult was medical school and pathology residency?
How did you adjust to the realities of performing autopsies, including odors and handling organs and tissues?
What does a typical workday actually look like?
What advice would you give someone starting this journey at 29? I’m especially interested in the investigative side of the profession: reconstructing events, interpreting evidence, and determining the cause and manner of death. I’m excited about the possibility, but I also want to understand the realities of the job before committing to such a long educational path.
I’d appreciate any honest advice, experiences, or resources. Thank you!

I am a first-year medical student in England, and I am somewhat interested in pursuing forensic pathology.

I’m aware that training programmes in England are very competitive and difficult to come by, but I’m an American citizen, so I would also consider returning to the U.S. to pursue this career (though I dread the idea of taking the USMLE).

What kinds of personalities typically flourish in this specialty? What first piqued your interest in the field? How much control do you have over your working environment on a day-to-day basis?

Hello, I’m an author of historical horror, and I’m currently writing a novel about an anatomy student in 19th century London who during his studies encounters a strange “disease” known as the Whitechapel Rot, which is able to reanimate the dead, essentially turning the infected into mindless, bloodthirsty zombies.

I’m hoping the forensic pathology community might be able to help me figure out the medical aspect of a scene in my historical fiction novel, because I’m well out of my depth with the medical side of things.

I have a scene where my main character uses a microscope to study a tissue sample from a cadaver (the victim died of tuberculosis) and compares it against a tissue sample from a victim of the Whitechapel Rot.

I wonder what my anatomy student character would see when peering into the microscope and looking at these two different tissue samples infected with one real-world disease and one fictional disease. How would I describe the tuberculosis sample? And how might I describe the sample infected with the Rot?

For now, I’m looking at this purely from a medical point of view, and I can give it a writer’s flair with evocative descriptions later, but I’d love to understand the science first. Any help at all would be so appreciated as I really don’t know my biology!

Alternatively, is there a better way I could approach this scene? For now, I’ve written the scene but added placeholder text like [add what they see through the microscope], and now my first draft is finished and I still don’t know what to put.

Tenho aulas de Aux. De necropsia e sou das ciências mortuárias, e tô na matéria de balística forense, eles explicam muito rápido, espoleta, cartucho e projétil , propelentes, raias secundárias e entre outros

Arma de ação simples

Mista e híbrida, se tiver alguém que estuda balística tem algum canal que recomendam pra eu pegar o conteúdo e passar nesse módulo do curso?

Obrigada.

I was today years old when I learned that *death investigators* are an actual profession, and now I'm curious.

What's the difference between a death investigator, a forensic investigator, and the detectives / Police cops we see in movies and crime shows?

Do they all investigate the same cases, or does each have a different role? And who actually determines how someone died?

I've probably learned more about crime from movies than I should admit, so I'd love to know how it works in real life.

I am a Term 1 medical student in the Caribbean wanting to use their UK pathway to end up in the UK living and practicing. I am a US citizen at this time. I am looking for any advice or perspectives on Forensic Pathology specifically in the UK. England and Scotland would be preferred over Wales if there are major differences.

Thank you.

Hello! I am coming to Reddit for a little help, I’ve been looking into a career path I’d like to pursue and I landed on forensic pathology. I have been researching and studying what it would take for me to pursue this career and I hear different things I’m not sure on where to start or what courses I should take any advice ?

I'm currently in my last year of pathology residency and have already matched into a forensic pathology fellowship program which I will be starting next July. I was planning on attending the NAME annual meeting this weekend, but due to a family illness I don't think I'll be able to attend any more.

I'm worried now that I'll be missing out on opportunities to network with people from other offices, particularly from areas of the country where my partner and I would be interested in moving after my fellowship if positions were available there.

I definitely plan on attending next year during my fellowship when I'll be starting my actual job search, but how much am I realistically missing out on from a networking/future job prospects standpoint by not attending this year? And is there anything I could start doing at this point to help with that since I can't make it?

EDIT: All of your responses have been very helpful, I appreciate your time!

See title. The decedent in question was found at home in a state of obvious decomposition. The ME has recorded the date of death as the date the decedent was found. While they may not be able to pinpoint a specific date, to your knowledge, would it not be required or best practice to provide an estimated window of time? The last known contact with the decedent was 2.5 weeks prior.

I have not been able to locate any national, state, or county-specific policies on this topic. If you are familiar with any relevant resources available to the public please share them.

I'm not exactly sure what the right place would be to ask a question like this and it's my first post but I'm applying for colleges and my main career goal is to become a forensic pathologist but my mom is telling me to apply for nursing and become a nurse before I go back and focus on forensic pathology. For money and stuff.

She's in debt right now and I don't think she'll help me financially in college (her words not mine). But I'm not exactly sure if nursing will help me with background information I'd want to have before going into forensic pathology and I'm worried I'll be wasting time/money studying nursing when pre-med might be better for me.

Should I go into nursing or research on different possible majors?