Medicine, Science and the Law最新文献

{"title":"Accidental cut throat injuries by kite-strings - A case series.","authors":"Sagar Meena, Bajrang Kumar Singh, Ankit Pandey Jain, Mahendra Sharma, Deepak Gawali","doi":"10.1177/00258024261487252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024261487252","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Kite flying is a culturally significant activity in India, especially during festivals such as Makar Sankranti; however, the increasing use of glass-coated and synthetic kite strings (Manja threads) has emerged as a serious public safety hazard. These kite-strings possess high tensile strength and sharp cutting properties, causing severe incised injuries, particularly to the neck, which may be fatal. This case series describes three young men victims who sustained fatal cut-throat injuries following accidental contact with Manja threads while riding motorcycles. All cases showed deep incised wounds involving major blood vessels and/ or airway structures. Distinctive findings, including linear abrasions merging into incised wounds and characteristic clothing damage, supported the mechanism of injury. Such injuries simulate deliberate homicide or suicidal cut-throat wounds caused by sharp metallic weapons, posing diagnostic challenges. This case series will be helpful in differentiating between these injuries, which will be of vital importance for medico-legal investigation. Careful forensic evaluation and stricter enforcement of bans are essential to prevent such fatalities.</p>","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024261487252"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148912746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Application of the pleural effusion ratio in diagnosing freshwater drowning: A comparative study.","authors":"Nirmal Nagar, Binaya Kumar Bastia","doi":"10.1177/00258024261486616","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024261486616","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional death globally, with diagnosis remaining challenging due to the non-specific nature of postmortem findings. This prospective study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic utility of the pleural effusion (PE) ratio in differentiating freshwater drowning from other causes of death. A total of 179 medico-legal autopsies conducted between July 2022 and April 2023 at a tertiary centre in Northern India were analysed, comprising 75 cases of freshwater drowning, 64 sudden cardiac deaths and 40 hangings. PE and lung weights were recorded, and the PE ratio was calculated as the weight of PE divided by the combined weight of the lungs and PE, multiplied by 100. Statistically significant differences were observed in PE ratios among the three groups (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The mean PE ratio was markedly elevated in drowning cases (30.07) compared to cardiac (2.75) and hanging deaths (3.21). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis yielded an area under the curve of 1.0, identifying 7.4 as the optimal PE ratio threshold for diagnosing drowning, with 100% sensitivity and specificity. This study, based on freshwater drownings in a uniform glacier-fed river environment, supports the PE ratio as a reliable adjunct in diagnosing drowning deaths. A PE ratio exceeding 7.4 strongly indicates freshwater drowning and may aid forensic pathologists in differentiating it from postmortem submersion. It should be used in conjunction with circumstantial evidence and only after the exclusion of all other possible causes of death.</p>","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024261486616"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148905825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Forensic wound age estimation: Unveiling the potential of non-coding RNA biomarkers in skin and skeletal muscle injuries.","authors":"Yuxin Pan, Yehui Lv, Jiuhong Zhao, Fang Tong","doi":"10.1177/00258024261486184","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024261486184","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Forensic wound age estimation holds significant importance for criminal investigation and judicial identification. However, accurately deducing the time of injury remains a tricky point. In recent years, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have emerged as novel biomarkers, demonstrating great potential for estimating the age of skin and skeletal muscle wounds. This narrative review focuses on the regulatory roles of microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in wound healing and their forensic applications. We analyze and predict potential ncRNA indicators that could serve as biomarkers for wound age estimation in these tissues. In addition, this review integrates literature on skin and muscle injuries, which are usually treated separately, to provide a unified resource for forensic practitioners. Studies have shown that miRNAs exhibit dynamic expression patterns during wound healing and can be used to establish systems for wound age estimation. Meanwhile, lncRNAs and circRNAs are becoming the new focal points in forensic wound age estimation due to their tissue-specific and time-dependent expression characteristics. Moreover, the application of machine learning technologies provides innovative solutions for the development and prediction of ncRNA biomarkers. Nevertheless, the forensic application of ncRNAs still faces numerous challenges, such as limitations in sample sources, the complexity of expression regulatory mechanisms, and technical constraints. Future research should further explore the relationship between ncRNA expression dynamics and wound age and optimize methods for biomarker screening and validation to achieve more accurate and reliable tools for forensic wound age estimation.</p>","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024261486184"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148905834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Suggestions for specific measures to prevent child abuse based on discussion from data during several periods in Japan.","authors":"Ken Inoue, Yuri Murayama, Kyoko Hirabayashi, Sultana Razia, Noriyuki Kawano, Haruo Takeshita, Tatsushige Fukunaga","doi":"10.1177/00258024261486206","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024261486206","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024261486206"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148905870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The necessity of a humanitarian approach in clinical forensic medicine.","authors":"Halil Ilhan Aydoğdu","doi":"10.1177/00258024261486204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024261486204","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024261486204"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148891915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Medico-legal governance of mass fatality incidents: A scoping review of forensic organisational models, operational vulnerabilities and lessons learned.","authors":"Gianmarco Sirago, Massimiliano Esposito, Francesco Sessa, Monica Salerno, Biagio Solarino, Alessandro Dell'Erba, Davide Ferorelli","doi":"10.1177/00258024261486205","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024261486205","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mass fatality incidents place forensic medicine at the intersection of death investigation, public health, criminal justice, emergency management and institutional risk governance. Although disaster victim identification (DVI) is supported by international standards, the literature remains fragmented across case reports, technical guidance, discipline-specific accounts and after-action lessons. This scoping review mapped the medico-legal organisational evidence on mass fatality management, with particular attention to forensic governance models, operational vulnerabilities and transferable lessons for preparedness and quality assurance. Searches identified 2253 records in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science. After removal of 477 duplicates, 1776 records were screened; 93 reports were sought and retrieved for eligibility assessment; and 50 sources were retained for synthesis, including 39 core forensic-organisational sources and 11 supportive/contextual operational sources. The evidence converged on eight interdependent domains: pre-event governance and readiness; scene recovery and preservation of identity evidence; mortuary throughput; ante-mortem/post-mortem information governance; integration of primary identifiers and specialist teams; family assistance and ethical-cultural communication; occupational safety and psychological burden; and after-action learning. The review shows that mass fatality management should not be understood as a purely technical identification exercise. It is a high-risk medico-legal process whose reliability depends on command structures, interoperable documentation, chain-of-custody controls, workforce protection, family communication and post-incident audit. On this basis, we propose a descriptive Forensic Mass Fatality Governance Matrix as a non-scoring, audit-oriented framework for forensic units, hospitals and risk-management offices seeking to convert DVI standards into locally testable preparedness systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024261486205"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148887978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Is facial recognition technology reliable? - Shedding light on fallacies in criminal investigation.","authors":"Ankita Guleria, Nandini Chitara, Damini Siwan, Rakesh Meena, Akansha Rana, Ayushi Srivastava, Tej Kaur, Vishal Sharma, Kewal Krishan","doi":"10.1177/00258024261477593","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024261477593","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Facial recognition technology is an artificial intelligence-based biometric technology that stands at the forefront of global forensic investigations as a leading and widely adopted biometric modality. In comparison to alternative parameters such as voice, fingerprint, iris, retina, eye scan, gait, ear, and hand geometry; facial recognition emerges as the most popular and effective tool for personal identification and verification. Beyond its role in research, access control, user authentication, and border security, the technology plays a dynamic role in law enforcement and surveillance. Despite its extensive applications, the technology sparks privacy and ethical debates. Contemporary concerns revolve around its potential to implicate innocent individuals, raising issues of civil liberties, human rights, and privacy infringement. In light of these considerations, this article critically examines the reliability and consistency of facial recognition technology and incorporates case studies highlighting instances of wrongful detentions. It also explores the principles and functioning of facial recognition technology. The face recognition outcomes rely heavily on features that are extracted to reflect the face pattern and classification techniques used to distinguish between faces. However, there are a few limitations associated with the facial recognition technology. This is prone to errors in detecting some facial features and skin tones, which raises potential risks and consequences for innocent persons and communities. Therefore, these mistaken identity cases emphasize the urgent need for robust oversight, transparency and safeguards to ensure fairness, preventing misuse and upholding the dignity and privacy of individuals in the growing era of artificial intelligence. The present communication concludes with actionable recommendations to address the ethical and privacy challenges associated with facial recognition in the forensic context.</p>","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024261477593"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148760517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Forensic analysis of dermocosmetic malpractice allegations in Türkiye.","authors":"Muhammed Emre Yılmaz, Ersin Ulu, Hasan Gökçay, Caner Beşkoç, Zekayi Kutlubay, Hüseyin Çağrı Şahin, Fatih Güner","doi":"10.1177/00258024261477898","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024261477898","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The rapid increase in minimally invasive dermocosmetic procedures has heightened medico-legal scrutiny, particularly regarding non-physician practitioners. Despite this trend, comprehensive evaluations of malpractice patterns and practitioner-related risk factors in Türkiye remain limited. This study retrospectively analyzed 505 cases referred to the Turkish Council of Forensic Medicine between 2018 and 2022, examining patient demographics, procedure types, lesion characteristics, practitioner profiles, clinical settings and forensic outcomes. Comparative analyses were conducted between physician- and aesthetician-performed procedures, as well as across age groups. The majority of complainants were young adult females (mean age 31.6 ± 8.17 years), with laser epilation most frequently implicated (51.5%). Non-physician aestheticians were involved in 73.8% of cases. First-degree burns were the predominant initial lesion (55.3%), while pigmentation (41.4%) and scarring (38.6%) were the most common long-term outcomes. Malpractice was confirmed in 16.0% of cases, with significant differences observed between practitioner groups in lesion type, location and session count (<i>p</i> < 0.001). In this complaint-driven forensic series, lesion patterns varied by practitioner type and setting, highlighting subsets of forensically significant adverse outcomes and practitioner-associated risk factors, rather than providing incidence estimates or comparative risk.</p>","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024261477898"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148764462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A glance at the literature on infanticide: the parental killing of unwanted and unloved children.","authors":"Ian Brockington","doi":"10.1177/00258024261467354","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258024261467354","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>An attempt to compile a comprehensive bibliography of infanticide found 3674 articles, books and theses. About 80% of these publications were obtained and searched for case descriptions of filicide. Of 1267 cases, 1050 had sufficient information to make a diagnosis on the balance of probability. In 417, the death of the child was due to some form of abuse and in 633 to some form of mental illness. This paper deals with abusive filicide under the headings of physical assault (148 cases), the elimination of unwanted children (140), starvation (62), medical abuse (20), sadistic cruelty (17), burial clubs (16), serial killers (7), sexual abuse (4) and the accidental death of neglected children (3). Mothers exceeded fathers in all groups except physical assault and sexual abuse. The literature contained almost equal numbers published before (209) and after 1950 (208), but there were striking differences in the frequency of groups in the early and late periods: while physical assault, medical abuse and serial killing are more common after 1950, the elimination of unwanted children is much less common. Since unwanted pregnancy is a factor in most forms of abusive filicide, it should be a target for prevention.</p>","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024261467354"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148722028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A glance at the literature on infanticide: filicide due to mental illness.","authors":"Ian Brockington","doi":"10.1177/00258024261469520","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258024261469520","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A bibliography of infanticide amounting to 3674 articles, books and theses was searched for case descriptions of filicide: 1050 had sufficient information to make a diagnosis: in 417 the death of the child was due to some form of abuse and 633 to some form of mental illness. This paper considers those due to mental illness under the headings of depression (306 cases), psychosis (119), vengeance (113), mercy-killing (49), alcoholism and drugs (31), epilepsy (10) and sleep disorders (5). The material was divided into 37 tables in the search for high-risk groups. There were approximately equal numbers published before (289) and after 1950 (344). Mothers exceeded fathers in all categories except alcoholism and family annihilation. Compared with abusive filicide, that due to mental illness more often results in multiple child deaths, but these are contemporaneous not serial filicides. Vengeance and family annihilation were more common in recent publications, while there were more suicide pacts, and cases of mercy killing due to extreme poverty, and of filicide linked to epilepsy and sleep disorders, in the early literature. This evidence from case reports suggests that depression with delusions or command hallucinations, and mental illness associated with childbearing (psychosis and depression, often with psychotic features) may be relatively dangerous. Mother-infant (perinatal) psychiatric services may contribute to the prevention of filicide.</p>","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024261469520"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148727283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}