2023-12-18 07:05:00
“At the time, we were required for all violent and suspicious deaths. Now, we only intervene for suspicious deaths,” explains Philippe Boxho, forensic doctor and professor at the University of Liège. “This means that Before, we saw all those who died from hanging, from a gunshot, from taking medication, from overdose, etc. Today, we only see the corpses resulting from police sorting. ”
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However, police do not have the power to undress or examine murder victims, and an estimated 70 murders a year go unidentified. “If a body is not fully examined by a forensic pathologist, you risk confusing murder by strangulation with hanging without third party intervention. We are therefore completely missing out on murders. When I go down to a crime scene, the victim is killed with arsenic. By examining the body, I can see that it is in reality arsenic poisoning, which the police officer cannot see,” continues Philippe Boxho.
In the 1990s, the country had around thirty forensic doctors. “Since the 2000s, there have been fewer than 20 of us,” he continues. “It’s an extremely poorly paid job. In medicine, this is the only specialty that can be practiced with another specialty to earn a living. Most of us therefore also do anatomopathology (which consists of the analysis of biological samples of cells, tissues and organs, Editor’s note) or medical expertise. We are paid 200 euros per procedure to examine the corpse but this requires being on call every day, which is not possible.”
The new institute of forensic medicine “goes in the right direction”, according to Philippe Boxho, and would make it possible to increase the number of autopsies per year. “According to estimates, 1 to 2% of deaths are followed by an autopsy in Belgium, while the objective recommended by Europe is 10%. Former Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne finally understood the importance of our work unlike his predecessors who systematically made budget cuts in forensic medicine, to the detriment of judicial investigations.”
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