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Law enforcement information gathering in the emergency department: Legal and ethical background and practical approaches. J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open 2023 Apr;4(2):e12914

Date

03/04/2023

Pubmed ID

36865389

Pubmed Central ID

PMC9972077

DOI

10.1002/emp2.12914

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85159357445 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   1 Citation

Abstract

In the course of legal investigations, law enforcement officers may enlist emergency department (ED) personnel to gather information or forensic evidence, often with the intent of building cases against a patient. These situations create ethical conflicts between the emergency physician's obligations to the patient and society. This paper provides an overview of the ethical and legal considerations in ED forensic evidence collection and the general principles that emergency physicians should apply in these situations.

Author List

Simon JR, Derse AR, Marco CA, Allen NG, Baker EF

Author

Arthur R. Derse MD, JD Director, Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of Wisconsin