Michael Tsokos in an interview: forensic medicine and scandal cases

Michael Tsokos in an interview: forensic medicine and scandal cases

The renowned forensic doctor Michael Tsokos has led the forensic medicine of the Berlin Charité since 2007 and resigned from this position at the end of 2023. Tsokos explained that he in no way perceives medicine as political and that the Charité had become too political in his eyes. During the Corona period, the relationship between lecturers and students at the university suffered. There was a decline in apprenticeship and the transfer of knowledge in the field of forensic medicine.

tsokos in Germany. The relationship between teachers and students in Germany is not as intense as in other countries. He also emphasized that the selection criteria for medical studies in Germany were not optimal and stated that personal pressure was often counterproductive. Despite a low high school diploma, Tsokos had got started with medical studies.

based on his many years of experience in forensic medicine, Tsoko's progress was able to identify progress in his field. Virtual autopsies through computer tomography are now standard in Berlin and have helped to investigate numerous cases. A remarkable memory concerned two corpses, the faces of which were unusual, a phenomenon that Tsokos had not seen until then.

In addition, Tsokos emphasizes the importance of the public in forensic medicine. He argues that it is important to educate people about the work of the forensic doctors and to clarify misunderstandings. Despite the sensitive topic of death, forensic medicine should serve as an intermediary of truth and not operate voyeuristic tendencies.

Tsoko's concerns about the corpse shows in Germany, which in his opinion do not use sufficiently trained staff. The neglect of the corpse show means that many homicides and medical mistakes are overlooked. Tsokos emphasizes that better training of doctors in the corpse is urgently required to improve the quality of the forensic studies.