In order to reach conclusions regarding cause and manner of death, forensic pathologists must rely on autopsy and toxicological findings, scene information, witness and victim accounts, test results, microscopic slide analysis, incident and investigative reports (from police, firefighters, EMTs, etc.), prior medical history, training, past cases and expertise, and current scientific literature, first to enumerate all the reasonably possible causes/manners of death, then to determine the correct cause and manner of death for each case. When one definitive solitary cause of death is not present, a multifactorial cause of death is considered with each putative factor assessed for degree of contribution to the death. Similarly, the manner of death classification is based on all available information (as noted above) using standard, distinct criteria; for example, there are only five manners of death: natural, accident, homicide, suicide, and undetermined.
Cause and manner of death medical expert witness specialties include Forensic pathology and Pathology.