Medico Legal Aspects of Ocular Trauma

Abstract

Basic nature of eye injuries is either accidental (work related or not), or inflicted ones, so they are always associated with legal problems. Many such cases may end up in civil court or in criminal court. Therefore, healthcare providers must integrate a forensic assessment into their practice while considering proper evidence interpretation and documentation techniques, as they can have a sig-nificant impact on the legal outcomes of those forensic cases. Nowadays there is still a strong sepa-ration (in Portugal at least) between law enforcement and healthcare. The need for education with-in the healthcare system, regarding the impact that nurses and doctors can have within the justice system, is warrant. The accurate description, interpretation and documentation of injuries is one of the most important functions of the forensic physician, which ensures that patients get every op-portunity to maximize both their healthcare and legal outcomes.

Keywords

• legal
• ocular
• trauma