legal medicine
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2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Salona Prahladh ◽  
Jacqueline Van Wyk

Abstract Background Forensic and legal medicine requires all documentation to be recorded in a manner that is admissible in court. Issues surrounding privacy, confidentiality, and security mar the implementation of electronic document systems in medicine. Awareness of current legislature governing record keeping and electronic documentation especially in modern medicine and forensic medicine has not been sufficiently explored. This study explored the current South African and international laws that govern admissibility of evidence, especially relating to electronic evidence, for use in court and research, Findings Egypt, UK, Canada and the USA have similar legislation to South Africa regarding admissibility of electronic records. The South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act no. 25 of 2002 defines data and the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 further defines the admissibility of evidence in court and the National Health Act regulates publication of deceased information after death. Conclusions Forensic medicine requires all documentation to be admissible in court and the storage of data thus requires proper custodianship and a high level of security, which can be achieved with modern technology. Modern medicine is evolving and technology can create secure and efficient methods of record keeping which will benefit forensic and legal medicine. Knowledge of the laws regarding admissibility of evidence can assist in creating electronic evidence that is permitted in court and can be used for research.


Author(s):  
Lena Lutz ◽  
Richard Zehner ◽  
Marcel A. Verhoff ◽  
Hansjürgen Bratzke ◽  
Jens Amendt

AbstractThis study highlights the importance of insect evidence by evaluating 949 insect-associated cases, including 139 entomological reports, from 2001 to 2019 at the Institute of Legal Medicine Frankfurt/Germany. With a high number of cases in the summer months and a low number in the colder season, 78.5% of the bodies were found indoors, regardless of year or month. In more than 80% of the cases, where PMI information was available (n = 704), the presumed PMI ranged from 1 to 21 days, a period during which entomological evidence can provide a day-specific estimate of PMImin. In cases where insects have been identified to species level (n = 279), most bodies were infested by one or two species with a maximum of 10 different species. Overall, a total of 55 insect species were found. Information on biology, activity and distribution of the most abundant taxa is given and applied for 5 case histories estimating different PMImins of up to over 6 months. Despite proved importance and scientific development of forensic entomology, insects are still rarely considered as a tool in forensic case work. The main reasons are a lack of awareness and (too) late involvement of a forensic entomologist. Our work shows that forensic entomology is an independent discipline that requires specialist expertise.


Author(s):  
Somayeh Roshannia ◽  
Fatemeh Rezaei ◽  
Lila Dosti

Introduction: Some studies have addressed the role of meta-cognitive beliefs and emotional schemes in the persistence of symptoms of post traumatic stress disorders. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the role of meta-cognitive beliefs and emotional schemes in predicting the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder in people referred to the legal medicine of Khorramabad City. Methods: The present study was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population of this study consisted of all individuals with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder referring to the forensic medicine organization in Khorramabad City in 2017-2018. Among them, 200 individuals were selected as the statistical sample by available sampling method. The participants completed the PTSD Symptom Scale - Self report (PSS-SR, Foa et al, 1993), Meta-cognitive Beliefs Questionnaires (Wells and Carthage-Hatton, 2004), and Leahy Emotional Schema Questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using step by step regression analysis. Results: Results revealed that there was a positive and significant correlation between the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder with meta-cognitive beliefs and emotional schemes (exept consensus and rumination) (p<0.05). In addition, multiple regression analysis showed that positive metacognitive beliefs (β= 0.500, p= 0.001), cognitive self-awareness (β= -1.090, p= 0.001), uncontrollability (β= -4.162, p= 0.001) and expression of feeling (β= -1.572, p= 0.001) might predict the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. Conclusion: With regard to the results of the current study attention should be directed to the relationship between symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder and meta-cognitive beliefs. Moreover, therapeutic interventions should be targeted at improving negative metacognitive beliefs and emotional schemes in patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 54-55
Author(s):  
George Cristian Curca ◽  
◽  
Iuliana Diac ◽  
Violeta Ionela Chirica ◽  
Filip Virgil Perde ◽  
...  

"Introduction. In Romania legal medicine suppose professional activities as forensic pathologist and legal doctor are facing victims that request documenting traumatic lesions if any or sexual abuses, prejudices, working capacity, malpraxis, etc. Objective. The objective of our work is to determine the special kind of doctor-patient relationship in clinical legal medicine and to analyze the ethical influences. Material and methods. More than 1500 cases of medico-legal examinations are performed in the National Institute of Legal Medicine Mina Minovici in Bucharest each year. Most of them are domestic violence requests or car accidents. Discussions. In the late 30 years (Ezechiel JE, Linda LE, JAMA 1992) found out 4 different relationship models that may be applied in medical practice; the paternalistic model (the patient accepts his doctor as his legal and moral representative), informative model (the patient expresses his autonomy), interpretative model (the doctor is a good friend in need) and the deliberative model of self-construction of the knowledge that the patient must have in order to have a voluntary decision. Conclusions. In clinical legal medicine the patient is not only a patient but a victim also. Therefore, the relationship is double folded. With his patient the legal doctor develops initially an informative model, then an interpretative model. With his victim the doctor develops initially a paternalistic approach (passive character type) or an informative one (active character type), usually an interpretative model as most highly requested (What would you do if you were I?) or the deliberative model when evaluating prejudices, etc. "


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Lakämper ◽  
Kristina Keller

Medical conditions and behavioral patterns affecting sleep are a largely underestimated threat to traffic safety. Unsupervised or even illegal self-treatment of sleep issues by, for example, anti-histamines, cannabis products, or stimulants, questions safe driving and the fitness to drive as well as low compliance/adherence to treatments (CPAP, medication, etc.) of medical conditions, such as OSAS, or narcolepsy. In such cases, Swiss law calls for a medical assessment of the fitness to drive by experts in traffic medicine. With increasing complexity, this medical assessment is escalated in a four-tiered system of qualified experts, ranging from a qualified practitioner to experts in traffic medicine, at, for example, an Institute for Legal Medicine. The following overview provides insight in the Swiss framework of traffic medicine assessments that – with all caveats and potential drawbacks – helps mitigating the risk of sleep-related accidents. For this, we first introduce Swiss traffic medicine and then argue for consistent terms and measurements to assess sleepy driving. A concise summary of those sleep related conditions most relevant in traffic medicine is followed by an overview over potential issues of sleep-medication.


Author(s):  
Dustin Möbius ◽  
Antonia Fitzek ◽  
Niels Hammer ◽  
Axel Heinemann ◽  
Alexandra Ron ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives Conventional autopsies remain the gold standard of postmortem healthcare quality assurance and help gathering extended knowledge on diseases. In answer to constantly declining autopsy rates non- or minimally invasive autopsy methods were introduced. Ultrasound is a well-established tool for imaging commonly used in clinical practice. This narrative review aims to summarize the current literature regarding the feasibility and validity of ultrasound in a forensic context. Material and methods A PubMed database search was carried out. Abstracts were scanned for pre-defined ex- and inclusion criteria, followed by a snowball search procedure applied to the primarily included articles. Results Forty-five publications met our inclusion criteria. The selected articles concern the feasibility of ultrasound in pre- or postmortem settings, forensic age estimation, and minimally invasive approaches. For imaging, ultrasound was deemed a reliable tool for the examination of epiphyses und superficial wounds, with limitations regarding internal organs and image quality due to postmortem changes. Ultrasound-guided minimally invasive approaches yielded higher success rates for adequate tissue sampling. Many investigations were carried out in low- and middle-income countries focusing on infectious diseases. Conclusion Ultrasound seems a promising but underutilized imaging tool in legal medicine to date. Promising approaches on its feasibility have been conducted. Especially for minimally invasive methods, ultrasound offered significant improvements on qualified biopsy sampling and thus appropriate diagnostics. Moreover, ultrasonic evaluation of epiphyses for age estimation offered valuable results. Nevertheless, further assessment of ultrasonic feasibility in forensic contexts is needed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa Farahbakhsh ◽  
Maryam Nejad Asgari ◽  
Vahab Aslrahimi ◽  
Azam Hemmati ◽  
Ilnaz Iranzad ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The incidence rate of suicide has been increased in Iran over the past decades especially in East Azerbaijan Province which there are limited studies on suicide. We aimed to investigate the 12-year trend of suicide and demographic characteristics in East Azerbaijan Province during the period 2007–2018. We obtained the data on the suicide mortality and socio-demographic status from the Death Registry Information System (DRIS) and compared with legal medicine suicide statistics during the study period. Results A total of 2422 and 1783 suicide cases were reported by legal medicine and DRIS (average incidence rate 5.94 vs 4.4 per 100,000) in the 12-year period from 2007 to 2018, respectively. The suicide rate in males was more than two times that of females. The mean and median age of suicide was 34.07 and 31 years, respectively. The most common suicide method was hanging (51.9%). The incidence rate of suicide cases was decreasing between 2007 and 2014, however from 2015 to 2018 has been increased. Conclusions The incidence rate of suicide in this province has been increasing with a smooth slope. Community-based programs and measures should be taken to stop the growth rate of suicide.


Author(s):  
Baoqing Wang ◽  
Yume Asayama ◽  
Malik Olivier Boussejra ◽  
Hideki Shojo ◽  
Noboru Adachi ◽  
...  

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