Health Sector. Publication of the Ruling issuing general guidelines for the timely notice and immediate attention to legal medical cases in Hospitals in the Federal District. [12/03/2013]
On March 12, 2013 the Ruling issuing the General Guidelines for the timely notice and immediate attention to legal medical cases in Hospitals in the Federal District was published in the Official Gazette of the Federal District. This ruling establishes that personnel of the health area and of the establishments providing medical services of the public, social and private sectors, including doctors’ offices, must notify the Public Prosecutor immediately of cases in which medical attention is required for people with injuries or other signs that presumably are related to the commission of unlawful acts.
The purpose of this Ruling will be to harmonize and unify the criteria and forms that are used for the timely notification of legal medical cases, and to optimize and modernize through the issuance of action protocols to personnel and to establishments that work in the health sector that involve an effective and timely notification of the legal medical cases.
A Legal Medical Case should be understood as any injury or other signs caused, intentionally or carelessly, by a different person from the one suffering the alternation in his health or by an unwanted act, when presumably the circumstances that cause the injury concur with their possible illegality and therefore, they are known due to the intervention of the health sector personnel, whether at the pre-hospital or hospital level.
With this Ruling, the Ministry of Health of the Federal District in coordination with the Attorney General’s Office of the Federal District must draft an action protocol for the timely notification and immediate attention of the Public Prosecutor of the legal medical cases in the hospitals in the Federal District.
In view of the above, on the same date the Secretary of Health of the Federal District and the Federal District Attorney General, published jointly the Ruling issuing general guidelines for the timely notice and immediate attention to legal medical cases, which will be made to the Public Prosecutor, by the Medical services providers of the Public, Social and Private Sector, including Doctors’ Offices.
This Protocol elaborates on the specific procedure for the notification of the Legal Medical Cases arising from the probable commission of unlawful acts, which must be notified to the Public Prosecutor, in medical attention, pre-hospital and hospital, in accordance with the provisions of article 127 of the Criminal Procedures Code for the Federal District, in accordance with article 301 of the Criminal Code for the Federal District.
Thus, for example, it is provided that the notification to the Public Prosecutor must be made in the following ways:
In the case of injuries caused by shooting of firearms or explosives, by internet, to the Notifications Receiving Unit, an agency of the Assistant Prosecutor of Preliminary Investigations, for which the Single Legal Medical Case Form that is available on the internet address casomedicolegal.salud.df.gob.mx must be filled out.
In the case of different injuries, not contemplated in paragraph a) above, the notification of the legal medical case will be made in writing to the competent Public Prosecutor to hear the probable unlawful acts, through the Single Form for Notification of Legal Medical Case.
Furthermore, as appendix to the Protocol, the Single Form for Notification of Legal Medical Case was published as well as the requirements it must contain.
It should be mentioned that the Protocol establishes that once a patient is entered in to a hospital, he cannot be taken to another hospital unit, without the corresponding medical notification of the treating physician, giving notice to the Public Prosecutor of the place where the user will be referred.
This Protocol will enter into force 90 business days after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Federal District and its application will correspond to both the Ministry of Health and the Attorney General’s Office of the Federal District.
If you would like to learn more about this topic please contact Lic. Cristina Loera.
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