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Utilization of medical knowledge during legal proceeding began in the seventeenth century, but its role is quite different between the East and West. Traditional oriental medicine is based on principles of functional harmony of forces such as metal, wood, water, fire, and earth for the human body. Under this system, issues of morality and philosophy play major roles during legal encounters. Western medicine, on the other hand, is based on the structural and factual analysis of material evidence. The author has analyzed the ways the medical profession in the western and eastern worlds have dealt with medicolegal matters concerning poisoning and the like in the past, and he has attempted to propose an effective approach to the use of medical knowledge for the legal system in the future.
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