Medical negligence according to the Islamic Penal Code in Iran: A case report.

Crimes against a person's physical integrity are a serious and consequential felony in the Islamic criminal law. A war veteran and victim of chemical warfare deceased at the age of 69 was referred to Kahrizak Legal Medicine Center, Tehran, Iran for autopsy. According to Iranian law, deceased war veterans should undergo autopsy to have the potential damage to their organs due to chemical warfare identified, so that due compensation can be awarded to their heirs. When the chest was opened and the pericardium was removed to separate the heart from arterial bases, a sterile gauze was astonishingly found in the mediastinal cavity. According to the history provided by his children, the veteran had undergone coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) 10 years before, which had caused him physical and mental frailty and ultimately led to his death following a respiratory infection.