Vertigo and medico-legal problems

Abstract

Forensic medicine deals with the interactions of medical science with the law. All branches of medicine can play a role in dealing with medico-legal problems. Clinical and forensic evaluators need to be able to recognize variations of symptoms or syndromes that "don't read the textbooks". Atypical presentations of dizziness or vertigo have the potential to cause much confusion in diagnosis, treatment planning, and legal adjudication, if not correctly recognized. This article describes the forensic medicine in the legal system and forensic aspects of other medical specialities, gives an overview about medico-legal viewpoint of vertigo, and underlines the importance of objective clinical and forensic evaluation of the patient with vertigo.