Ethical problems in the investigation of autoerotic deaths: three case reports

Despite a large body of literature on autoerotic deaths, there are very few articles focusing on the ethical aspect of such deaths. Furthermore, as far as we know, there is no paper that has studied the forensic teams' reactions to those deaths. We present three cases of autoerotic death involving ethical problems in the case's management. Despite the usual high professionalism and respectful behaviour of the forensic staff, we observed in these cases breaches of confidentiality, laxity of work and an offhand attitude. Ethical dimensions are discussed.