BMJ
BMJ (formerly British Medical Journal) is an editorially independent journal published weekly by a subsidiary of the British Medical Association (BMA). Its web site provides abstracts and full text of all articles published January 1994 onwards, searchable by author, word(s) in title or abstract, or word(s) anywhere in article. Not all content is free: access to some material, particularly the more recent, is restricted to subscribers.
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Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry
An Inquiry Panel, chaired by Professor Ian Kennedy, was appointed in June 1998 to inquire into children's heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary from 1984 to 1985. Information and documentation on the site, now archived by the National Archives, includes evidence, the interim report of May 2000, and the final report published July 2001.
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British Medical Association
The British Medical Association (BMA) is the professional organisation representing doctors in all branches of medicine in the UK. The Medical Ethics section of its site includes various BMA reports, guidelines and discussion papers concerning medical ethics.
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Coroners' Law Resource
This resource is compiled by Paul Matthews of King's College London, editor of Jervis on Coroners (12th edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2002). As well as an online noter-up to Jervis there is a brief account of the law relating to coroners, an index of articles, and links. Please note that this site has not been updated since 2004.
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Coroners' Society of England and Wales
The freely accessible areas of the Society's site (there is also a separate area for members only) provide information on the role of coroners and their history, plus a database of local coroners' offices, with names, addresses and other contact details, which is searchable both by county and by jurisdiction (district).
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Coroners, Burial and Cremation
The Ministry of Justice is the government department responsible for the law and policy governing coroners and for the operation of the current coroner system in England and Wales. This section of the Justice portal site provides guidance for coroners and for those concerned with burials and cremation.
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Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine
The Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of London was established in 2006 to develop and maintain good practice in forensic and legal medicine. It provides information, advice and guidance on various medico-legal matters. It acquired the assets of the defunct Association of Forensic Physicians (formerly the Association of Police Surgeons), and documents in the site's Publications section include many originally issued by the AFP and the APS.
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Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) was created in 1991, under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, to regulate safe and appropriate practice in fertility treatment and human embryo research. Its Code of Practice, Directions and other guidance documents are to be found in the section "For Clinic Staff and Other Professionals". Documents elsewhere include annual reports, research reports, news items and press releases.
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Human Tissue Authority
The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) was set up under the Human Tissue Act 2004 to regulate the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue from the living and deceased. Site content includes a section devoted to transplantation matters, licensing guidelines, codes of practice, details of current and closed consultations, media releases and news stories. Publications include annual reports, leaflets, and a regular e-newsletter. There are links to the Human Tissue Act 2004 and regulations made under it, and to the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006.
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Isaacs Report
Following the death of Cyril Isaacs on 26 February 1987, and a post mortem examination at Prestwich Hospital mortuary the following day, Mr Isaacs's brain was retained for research at Manchester University without the knowledge of his relatives. The full text of the report (published 12 May 2003) of the investigation into these events, which was carried out by HM Inspector of Anatomy, Dr Jeremy S. Metters, is available here on the Stationery Office's Official Documents site.
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Lancet
The Lancet is an authoritative independent general medical journal, published weekly. Much of the content of its web site is accessible only by subscribers, but there is also a free registration facility which permits access to all article abstracts and to selected full-text articles and news items. Site coverage extends also to four associated specialty journals which are concerned with infectious diseases, neurology, oncology and (from March 2013) respiratory medicine.
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Medico-Legal Brief Update
Email newsletter, free to those who sign up, providing brief details of recent developments of interest to professionals involved in the medico-legal world, including both lawyers and doctors.
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Medico-Legal Society
The Society's aim is to promote all aspects of medico-legal knowledge, principally through holding meetings and publishing the quarterly Medico-Legal Journal. The journal itself is not available online to non-subscribers, but there is a downloadable index of articles from volume 1 (1904) of its precursor, Transactions of the Medico-Legal Society, to volume 64 (1996).
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Redfern Inquiry
An inquiry into human tissue analysis in UK nuclear facilities was announced by the government on 18 April 2007 and conducted by Michael Redfern QC. Documents on the inquiry's site, now archived by the National Archives, include terms of reference and the final report, which was delivered to Parliament on 16 November 2010.
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Royal Liverpool Children's Inquiry
An Inquiry Panel, chaired by Michael Redfern QC, was appointed in December 1999 to investigate the removal, retention and disposal of human organs and tissues following post mortem examination at the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital (Alder Hey Children's Hospital). Both the Summary and Recommendations and the full report of the Inquiry, published in January 2001, may be downloaded from this site.
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Shipman Inquiry
Harold Shipman, a former doctor, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000 for the murder of fifteen of his patients, and died in prison 13 January 2004. Following allegations that he may have murdered many more, a public inquiry was set up under the chairmanship of Dame Janet Smith DBE. The inquiry web site, now archived by the National Archives, provides full documentation including the six reports published between July 2002 and January 2005.
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Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy
Following the acquittals of Sally Clark and Trupti Patel in 2003, the Royal College of Pathologists and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health convened a joint working group, chaired by Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws (Helena Kennedy QC), to consider the investigation of sudden and unexpected death in infancy (formerly known as cot-death). The working group's report, Sudden unexpected death in infancy: a multi-agency protocol for care and investigation (September 2004), may be downloaded from this page of the Royal College of Pathologists' web site.
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