[Review of the drug analysis system accompanied by forensic autopsy in Finland]

In Japan, drug analyses for forensic autopsies have been traditionally carried out at each laboratory of the Department of Forensic Medicine. However, it is difficult to maintain a high quality of drug analysis in each department due to an insufficient number of staff and lack of equipment. Therefore, the establishment of more advanced toxicology centers which can handle all drugs associated with forensic autopsies is essential. In addition, a systematic system for requesting drug analyses from each department and dealing with the results from the center is needed. The number of forensic autopsies carried out in Finland is as high as that in Japan although the population is 1/24th that of Japan, and toxicological analyses for the entire country are centralized in one place, the Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki. Since the autopsies and drug analyses are carried out at a University as in Japan, the drug analysis system in Finland can be a good model when considering the future system in Japan. Therefore, a review of the drug analysis system accompanied by forensic autopsy in Finland was carried out with the collaboration of the Departments of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki and University of Turku. Based on the above studies and the present situation in Japan, we discuss the future drug analysis system needed in Japan.