Wanted: Death detectives

The Dengvaxia controversy highlighted a weakness of the country’s law enforcement: an acute lack of forensic pathologists. Called “death detectives,” forensic pathologists are needed for scientific criminal investigation. Their expertise is crucial in establishing the cause of injury, disease or death as well as pinning down the correct suspects and securing their conviction.

The medico-legal officer of the Public Attorney’s Office is a forensic physician but is no forensic pathologist. Chief public attorney Persida Acosta is only fanning panic and confusion when she invokes, in her trademark strident fashion, the so-called findings of PAO medico-legal physician Erwin Erfe. He based his conclusions on autopsies he conducted on the exhumed remains of children who died of dengue shock even after being vaccinated with Dengvaxia.

The country has only two forensic pathologists, and neither works for the Philippine National Police or the National Bureau of Investigation. Both are women, and both work for the University of the Philippines and the UP System’s Philippine General Hospital.

With over 2,000 laboratory tests available for various types of bodily fluids alone, a forensic pathologist requires years of rigorous, specialized training to perform the role of both physician and detective. Expert, reliable post-mortem examinations are critical in the efficient administration of justice.

In the Dengvaxia fiasco, the World Health Organization, upon the request of the Department of Health, is reportedly bringing to Manila up to seven foreign experts to assist the DOH and UP-PGH teams in determining if the vaccine failed to work on the fatalities, or if it directly killed the victims.

WHO experts, however, cannot always be called in to conduct post-mortems on victims of the thousands of crimes committed annually as well as disease-related deaths. It is also best to have forensic pathologists quickly conducting post-mortems on those who have just died instead of exhuming corpses for autopsies. Such an examination could have speeded up justice for Aegis Juris hazing victim Horacio Castillo.

The government can provide incentives to encourage more forensic experts to study pathology. Authorities can also link up with educational institutions so college students will seriously consider a career in forensics, with specialization in forensic pathology. A campaign against criminality can best succeed if it employs the services of death detectives.