Forensic scientists say that murders can be missed if a government proposal to give cases to local pathologists continues.
The Ministry of Justice wants to have complex cases handled by local coronary pathologists.
Last week Minister of Justice Andrew Little told the Association of Medical Specialists for Insurance that the restructuring would continue despite protest.
This restructuring reverses the 2005 decision to consolidate work into a single national forensic pathology service.
Auckland District Health Board oversees national service, which includes four forensic pathologists in Auckland and one each in Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch.
There are 32 coronal pathologists across the country, but according to National Forensic Pathology Service spokesman, Dr. Paul Morrow, they are not qualified to treat cases of manslaughter
"They have been trained to perform of autopsies in hospital cases with natural deaths ", he told Newshub
He says that if the restructuring continues police investigations might fail, wrong causes of death can be identified or people can be mistakenly accused of murder.
"If your lover is murdered or dies of an unusual cause, or even if you are accused of a possible manslaughter in a case, the autopsy can be performed by a general pathologist who is not qualified to handle such a case. treat. "
He said the move would also make it more difficult to hire specialists abroad.
Dr. Morrow calls on Mr. Little to exempt the forensic pathology service from the restructuring.
Newshub.
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