[Autopsies--necessary for medical services?]

The number of clinical autopsies has continuously declined in the last 20 years. The introduction of the new Swedish Autopsies Act is frequently mentioned as the principal reason for this development. This article presents an alternative explanatory model in which changes of attitudes within the medical services and the society appear as the major cause of the reduction in the number of autopsies. Some suggestions are offered with a view to breaking this trend.