Not so long ago I saw a chilling TV drama where a detective was drugged and his wrists slashed with a knife to make it appear he had committed suicide.

Sometimes fact and fiction are uncannily alike.

I am, of course, referring to the apparent suicide of Dr David Kelly, the government’s weapons’ inspector whose body was discovered in a wood seven years ago  An inquiry led by Lord Hutton concluded that he had killed himself by cutting his left wrist with a blunt garden knife.

Several prominent figures remain dissatisfied with this outcome, including five eminent medics who have explained why they believe his decision is flawed, and have urged a full inquest to investigate the full medical information. This is their letter published in today’s Times:

Among the continuing interest surrounding the death of the government weapons’ inspector, the late Dr David Kelly, we wish to express our concern about the conclusions to the cause of death in the light of the information now in the public domain. It is extremely unlikely, from a medical perspective, that the primary cause of death would or could have been haemorrhage from a severed ulnar artery in one wrist without any evidence of a blood clotting deficiency.

This small artery, deeper in the wrist than the larger radial artery used to palpate the pulse, would have retracted on being severed and within a short time blood loss would be expected to have ceased.

Insufficient blood would have been lost to threaten life. Absent a quantitative assessment of the blood lost and of the blood remaining in the great vessels, the conclusion that death occurred as a consequence of haemorrhage is unsafe.

The inquiry by Lord Hutton was unsatisfactory with regard to the causation of death. A detailed investigation of all medical circumstances is now required and we support the call for a proper inquest into the cause of Dr Kelly’s death.

I too believe a full and open inquest should be held, and that a jury should decide the outcome on the evidence it hears; it could be they decide on an “open” verdict, which means they heard insufficient evidence to decide exactly how the death came about. They could also decide that he was unlawfully killed or committed suicide.

This could be a scenario straight from Spooks. It sends the same shivers down my spine. Will we ever know for sure if a desperate Dr Kelly really did commit suicide? Certainly the full medical evidence needs to be considered, and these medics are saying that wasn’t the case.

One urgent question remains unanswered; if Dr Kelly didn’t slash his own wrist, then who did?

Update 14 August: The speculations and debate on this continues, with Times columnist David Aaronovitch supporting the findings of Lord Hutton, with a headline clearly stating, “There is no mystery over David Kelly’s death. A body, a knife, pills, a cut wrist – conspiracy theorists and campaigning doctors must accept the truth.” on the opposite facing Letters’ page, a retired coroner totally disagrees and adds his support for a “proper” inquest.

15 August: Former Conservative leader Michael Howard supports calls for an inquest too, believing there are too many unanswered questions.