Patient and mortuary neglect

Definition

Forensic entomology can be divided into three groups stored products, urban, and medicocriminal. Mortuary and also patient neglect are tied to the medicocriminal branch of forensic entomology. Neglect is defined as giving little attention to or to leave undone or unattended to especially through carelessness. Mortuary neglect can comprise many things such as bodies being stolen from funeral home which has happened more than you would think. In some cases it has been found that that bodies have been mixed up and the wrong one was buried. When a mortuary fails to preserve a body correctly it could also be considered neglect because of what follows when a body is not preserved in the proper way.

Patient neglect is basically the same thing as mortuary neglect with well one major and some smaller differences. The major difference is that patient neglect has to do with people who are still living but the neglect could ultimately lead to their death. Patient neglect has to do with people in hospitals, nursing homes, or being cared for in home. Usually in nursing homes or in home assisted living neglect would consist of patients being left laying in their own urine and/or feces which would in turn possibly attract flesh flies and lead to maggots. It also consists of patients getting rashes, lice, and other sores from being improperly cared for.