Department of Forensic Medicine

The broad goal of the teaching of undergraduate students in Forensic Medicine is to produce a physician who is well informed about medicolegal responsibilities in practice of medicine. He/She will also be capable of making observations and inferring conclusions by logical deductions to set enquiries on the right track in criminal matters and connected medicolegal problems. He/She acquires knowledge of law in relation to medical practice, medical negligence and respect for codes of medical ethics.

We try our level best to prepare every student with the ability to

• 1
  Appreciate the physician’s responsibilities in criminal matters and respect for the codes of medical ethics.
• 2
  Define the medicolegal responsibilities of a general physician while rendering community service either in a rural primary health centre or an urban health centre.
• 3
  Diagnose, manage and identify also legal aspects of common acute and chronic poisonings.
• 4
  Detect occupational and environmental poisoning, prevention and epidemiology of common poisoning and their legal aspects particularly pertaining to Workmen’s Compensation Act.
• 5
  Identify the basic medicolegal aspects of hospital and general practice.
• 6
  Describe the medicolegal aspects and findings of post-mortem examination incase of death due to common unnatural conditions & poisonings.
• 7
  Describe the general principles of analytical toxicology.

We train our medical students to understand both rights as well as responsibilities under Medical Insurance and Consumer Protection Act –wherein doctors have been covered under its ambit. The importance of acts ofnegligence covered, as well as rights for effective service delivery is mandated.

At the end of the course, the student would be able to observe the principles of medical ethics in the practise of his profession, make observations and logical inferences in order to initiate enquiries incriminal matters and medicolegal problems. The student will be equipped with skills to diagnose and treat common emergencies in poisoning and managechronic toxicity and make observations and interpret findings at postmortem examination.

Department provides an integrated approach towards allied disciplineslike Pathology, Radiology, Forensic Sciences, Hospital Administration etc. toimpart training regarding medicolegalresponsibilities of physicians at all levels of health care. Integration with relevant disciplines will provide scientificbasis of clinical toxicology e.g. medicine, pharmacology etc.

Dr. VrindaBhat Kamath

Age: 45 years

Professor Vrinda Bhat Kamath is an incisive professional with proven skill & having up to date knowledge of new research, treatment modality & practice.

She has completed her MBBS from Al -Ameen Medical College,Bijapur in the year 1997 and MD from Kasturba Medical College,Manipal in the year 2001.

She has a teaching experience as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, as Professor and Head at Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, Shimoga and is currently working as Professor and Head of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology at SIMS& RC, Mukka, Mangaluru.

She has been actively involved in various research activities till now.

As a dissertational study she researched on “Estimation of chronological age from root development of 3rd molars in comparison with skeletal age of wrist & hand-a radiological study”

Being a medical professional other areas of research which are related to dentistry into which she has actively involved are – prospective study of palatal rugae pattern among the Indians and Chinese at Manipal and Prospective study on eruption of permanent teeth in the age group of 5-15 years at udupi district.

Presently she is involved in following on-going studies

• 1
  Incidence of unnatural deaths in married woman with special reference to dowry death.
• 2
  Retrospective study to find the incidence of Pontine haemorrhages and its relation to cause of death in fatal head injuries from the medicolegal autopsies.
• 3
  A Cross Sectional Autopsy Study of Brain Stem and Cervical Spinal Cord Injuries in Road Traffic Accident Deaths,
• 4
  Prospective study of Diatom distribution patterns and their seasonal variations in water bodies in and around Shimogaduring her tenure at SIMS, Shimoga.

She possesses a vast clinical experience in post mortem examination of medicolegal deaths, examination & opining on alleged weapons of assaults, skeletal remnants, visiting crime scenes & Exhumations.

She has actively participated in various national & international conferences, workshops, seminars and CME programmes conducted across the country into which she has presented several papers & posters & won best paper awards & got recognition for her excellent academic service.

She has won best paper award for oral presentation category for faculty at annual conference of Karnataka medico-legal society at KIMS Hubli in 2006 and the best paper award at national conference of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine-FORENSIC MEDICON-2015 at Sri Ramachandra Medical College,Chennai.

She has been recognized as –
• Lady representative in the Indian Medical Association Udupi – Manipal.
• Editor in chief for journal of Karnataka medicolegal society.
• Honorary secretary & Vice President of Indian medical association,Udupi-Manipal.
• Associate editor of international journal of Medical Toxicology & Legal Medicine.
• Resource person by MCI to train medical faculty & postgraduates in medical education technology & medical research since 2012.
• Currently she is a recognized resource person for Basic Workshop in Teaching & Evaluation Technologies at Sharavathi Dental College & Hospital,Shimoga. She has delivered several guest lectures on various forums for Lawyers, Police Officers, Medical Officers etc and has about 17 national & international publications to her credit.

• 1
  Kumar V, Vrinda. Nullity and dissolution of Marriage and its Medicolegal Aspects. International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Legal Medicine;Vol 4 (1), 2001: Pages 27 -37
• 2
  Bhat Vrinda J. Brain fingerprinting. In the Souvenir of XII Annual Conference of Karnataka Medicolegal Society (KAMLS) and first South India Medico-Legal Association (SIMLA) Meet in December 2003
• 3
  Vrinda JB, Pradeep KG. Total Surface Area Burns in Children – a Comparative Study of Rule of Nines and Lund and Browder Chart: Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine, 2002; Vol 24 (4) pgs – 9 -14.
• 4
  Vrinda JB, Giridhar K. Age Estimation from the Root Development of Mandibular Third Molars. Medicolegal Update; Oct-Dec 2004: Vol.4, (4) Pg 127-31
• 5
  Giridhar K, Vrinda JB. Engraved Fixed Restorations And Denture Micro-Labeling To Facilitate Identification Through Forensic Dentistry.Journal of Indian Prosthodontic Society 2005, Vol 5 (2) pgs 79 – 81
• 6
  Pradeep K G, Vrinda JB, Vasantha S.Fulminant Hepatic Failure Following Halothane Anaesthesia: A Case Report.Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, 2005; Vol 12 pgs 271-273
• 7
  Vrinda JB, Palimar V, Pradeep K G. Reliability of Postmortem Lividity as an Indicator of Time Since Death in Cold Stored Bodies. Medico-legal Update; Oct -December 2005 5 (4) pgs 143 – 145
• 8
  Vrinda JB, Giridhar K Age Estimation from the Root Development of Mandibular Third Molars in Comparison with Skeletal Age of Wrist Joint.American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, September 2007; Vol. 28 (3): pgs 238-241
• 9
  Vrinda JB, Sasikumar S Polygraph and its Legal Imperatives.Journal of Karnataka Medicolegal Society, 2008; Vol. 17 (1): pgs 21-27
• 10
  Neena PAV, Vrinda JB, Mohan Kumar TS, Pradeep KG Cause of Death in Decomposed Bodies.Journal of Karnataka Medicolegal Society, 2008; Vol. 17 (1): pgs 28 – 31
• 11
  Vrinda JB, Pratik TarvadiImportance of helmets. Journal of Karnataka Medicolegal Society, 2008; Vol. 17 (2): pgs 22 – 23
• 12
  Vrinda JB, Yajnesh K, VinodNayak C Communication Mishaps. Journal of Karnataka Medicolegal Society, 2008; Vol. 17 (2): pg 33
• 13
  Vinod CN, Shankar MB, Vrinda JB, Pradeep KG, Neena PAV Incidence of Adrenal Haemorrhages at Autopsy. Journal of South India MedicolegalAssocation, 2011; Vol. 3 (2): pgs 60-63.
• 14
  Vrinda JB, Saraschandra V, Neena PAV, Pradeep KG Comparison between CT Scan and Autopsy Findings of head injury victims Medico-legal update, 2011; Vol 11 (2) pgs 117-20
• 15
  BabuRaghavendra YP, Manjunath S, RastogiPrateek, Kumar Mohan TS, Bhat VJ, Yoganarasimha K, Kumar Pradeep G, Kishan K, Dixit Prashanth N Determination of Sex by Foramen Magnum Morphometry in South Indian Population Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 2011; Vol 4 (1) pgs 29-33
• 16
  Bhat VJ, Nayak VC Unilateral Basal Ganglia Haemorrhage in Road Traffic Accidents – A Case ReportInternational Journal of Medical Toxicology & Legal Medicine, July -Sep 2011; 14 (1) pgs 51-53
• 17
  S Manjunath, Shankar M Bakkannavar, Pradeep Kumar G, Vrinda J Bhat, NayanaPrabhu, Asha Kamath, RaghavendraBabu YP Palatal Rugae Patterns among the Indians at Manipal, India Journal of Pharmaceuticals and Biomedical Sciences 2012 20(10), pgs 1-5

• 1
  K AnandaMandar, N C Shreedhar :Pseudo Precipitate Labour – Medicine Science and the Law 2013; Vol 53: 45–47.
• 2
  Dr Shreedhar NC, Dr Venkatesha VT, Dr Jagannatha SR, Dr Ananda :Accidental Death due to Autoerotic Asphyxia – A case report. Indian Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine, Vol 10, no 1 (Jan-march 2013), 21-23.
• 3
  Shreedhar NC, Naveen Kumar T, Venkatesha VT, Ananda K, Viswakanth :Dyadic Death – Indian Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine, Vol 11, No 1 & 2 June 2013.
• 4
  B Viswakanth, VT Venkatesha, P Shruthi, NC Shreedhar, SenthilKumar :Age Estimation from Newer Radiographic Methods in Developing and Adult Dentition: Methods and Historical Review. Indian Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Vol 11, No 1 & 2 June 2013.
• 5
  Venkatesha VT, Viswakanth, Shruthi P, Shreedhar NC, Sujatha PL: To Death by Thallium – A Case of Thallium Poisoning. Journal of the Indian Society of Toxicology (JIST), Vol 09, Issue 02 Nov–Dec 2013.
• 6
  Shreedhar NC, Viswakanth B, Roopak S.N, ShruthiP : Filicide-Parasuicide : A Case Report and ‘Insight’. Indian Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Vol 12, Issue 4. 2014.
• 7
  NC Shreedhar, B Viswakanth, SN Roopak, P Shruthi, VT Venkatesha : Sudden Cardiac Deaths in a Metropolitan City of South India: A Prospective Study. Indian Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, 13, no. 1, January-March 2015.
• 8
  Viswakanth B, Shreedhar NC, Roopak SN, Venkatesha VT : Sudden Deaths due to Respiratory Diseases in a Metropolitan City of South India: A Three Year Prospective Autopsy Study. J Indian Acad Forensic Med. April – June 2016, Vol. 38, No. 2.
• 9
  Srinivas J, Shreedhar NC, Viswakanth B : A Study of Coronal Suture Closure at Autopsy: Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine &Toxicology, July-December 2016, Vol. 10, No. 2.

Actively participated in various National&State level conferences, workshops, seminars and CME programmes conducted across the country where several papers & posters were presented.