Blunt Force Trauma in a Suspected Case of Drug Overdose Death: a Dilemma for Forensic Pathologists

Abstract

ABSTRACT
Deaths resulting from blunt force injury are some of the most common cases encountered by a practising forensic pathologist. At the same time, deaths due to drug abuse, especially synthetic opioids, are also a common phenomenon all over the world. In this paper, an interesting case is reported wherein a dead body brought as a case of drug overdose had tell-tale signs of blunt trauma on the body. The injuries were present on the non-accessible parts of the deceased’s body pointing towards homicide. This case has been reported considering the interesting nature of the case as well as to emphasize the importance of meticulous postmortem examination so that the opinion may not be influenced by the history given by the investigating agencies.