Medico-Legal JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-09-19DOI: 10.1177/00258172241273521
Diana Brahams, Eleanor Jane Turner
{"title":"The UK's National Health Service needs to take urgent action to get itself and the nation fitter by focusing on prevention. Dentistry as an example of strategy gone wrong.","authors":"Diana Brahams, Eleanor Jane Turner","doi":"10.1177/00258172241273521","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258172241273521","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35529,"journal":{"name":"Medico-Legal Journal","volume":" ","pages":"170-173"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142297197","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medico-Legal JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-08-19DOI: 10.1177/00258172241255194
Konstantinos Kontoangelos, Maria Kalofonou, Panagiotis Bethanis, Charalabos Papageorgiou
{"title":"Vitriol attack on a young woman in Greece: The story of Ioanna's response.","authors":"Konstantinos Kontoangelos, Maria Kalofonou, Panagiotis Bethanis, Charalabos Papageorgiou","doi":"10.1177/00258172241255194","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258172241255194","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>An acid attack is a deliberate act of violence. Sulphuric acid is thrown at a person's face and body with the intention of harming and disfiguring the victim. Sulphuric acid is a dangerous weapon which can cause very serious injuries including severe skin damage, blindness, significant disfigurement and/or permanent disability. We report the case of Ioanna, a 34-year-old woman who was attacked with vitriol by a jealous woman in May 2020. Following her admission to hospital, where Ioanna was an inpatient for 85 days, she underwent nine operations. Since her discharge she has undergone ten more, with further interventions likely in the future. In addition, she has undergone various treatments and procedures to restore her skin. Ioanna's courage and strength has inspired thousands of young children and adults who cope with a variety of health problems.</p>","PeriodicalId":35529,"journal":{"name":"Medico-Legal Journal","volume":" ","pages":"218-222"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142000849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medico-Legal JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-11-06DOI: 10.1177/00258172241273537
Michael J Powers
{"title":"Medicine and Law - a view from both sides.","authors":"Michael J Powers","doi":"10.1177/00258172241273537","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258172241273537","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35529,"journal":{"name":"Medico-Legal Journal","volume":" ","pages":"174-182"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142591616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medico-Legal JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-06-13DOI: 10.1177/00258172241242257
Dubravko Habek, Jurica Habek
{"title":"Home birth in Croatia - a medico-legal perspective today.","authors":"Dubravko Habek, Jurica Habek","doi":"10.1177/00258172241242257","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258172241242257","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In Croatia, the model of obstetrics-midwifery management of childbirth in maternity hospitals is still in effect, and this is how > 99% of Croatian women give birth. However, in my view, midwives are still not sufficiently educated for completely independent work notwithstanding their university education. The Law on Midwifery defined the role of the midwife in home birth without, however, setting out other organisational-communication and professional provisions. Then it began with sporadic midwifery home births of a few per year, which grew quite rapidly, especially with the impact of the Covid-19 virus pandemic, to about 100 out of a total of about 38,000 births that are performed annually in the Republic of Croatia in maternity hospitals. Since the start of planned home births many bad perinatal outcomes have been recorded in hospital maternity wards who have admitted women after such deliveries. These include puerperal sepsis, protracted labour of several days, neglected protracted labour with perinatal asphyxia and aspiration of meconium amniotic fluid and resuscitation of the newborn (who later developed cerebral palsy), severe postpartum haemorrhage with obstetric shock and postpartum hysterectomy, episiotomy infection, and stillbirth at term pregnancy. Therefore, planned home birth in Croatia should now be regarded as an unsafe birth in extraordinary circumstances and the person who takes charge of it must be professionally prepared, educated and have numerous social skills. Most Croatian gynaecologists and obstetricians give support to midwives in their efforts to be professional and independent when at work, including the controlled and legal implementation of the planned home birth. We unreservedly support self-aware midwives to maintain their profession as highly ethical and professional as possible above the wishes of non-professionals who call for autonomy, so that we do not have to discuss such problems of malpractice of Croatian midwifery in the 21st century.</p>","PeriodicalId":35529,"journal":{"name":"Medico-Legal Journal","volume":" ","pages":"198-200"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141318515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medico-Legal JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-08-19DOI: 10.1177/00258172241252512
Benjamin Andoh
{"title":"Restraint of patients in psychiatric hospitals in England and Wales.","authors":"Benjamin Andoh","doi":"10.1177/00258172241252512","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258172241252512","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The restraint of patients is one of the important aspects of the regime in psychiatric hospitals. It has been an issue in hospitals over the years because it interferes with the personal freedom of patients. Most recently it was one of the matters raised in <i>X NHS Foundation Trust</i> v <i>RH</i> [2024] EWCOP 150. This paper aims to add to the awareness of it by looking at what it means, the forms it may take and the justifications for it. It is concluded that restraint of patients is controversial but reasonable and necessary at times in the interests of the patient's own health/safety or that of others.</p>","PeriodicalId":35529,"journal":{"name":"Medico-Legal Journal","volume":" ","pages":"206-209"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142000848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medico-Legal JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-09-10DOI: 10.1177/00258172241257326
Aditya Anand, Munesh Kumar, S K Tandon
{"title":"Organophosphorus poisoning causing haemorrhagic pancreatitis - a case series.","authors":"Aditya Anand, Munesh Kumar, S K Tandon","doi":"10.1177/00258172241257326","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258172241257326","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Organophosphorus, an insecticide used in agricultural and industrial settings, is the most common cause of poisoning in India. Organophosphorus is a nerve poison that causes irreversible inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, which leads to the accumulation of acetylcholine, resulting in excessive cholinergic stimulation of several organ systems. Several complications have been reported, but pancreatitis is quite rare and mainly due to ductal hypertension and injury to parenchyma, consequent to cholinergic hyperactivity in the pancreas. We present a case series of four cases where organophosphorus poisoning was suspected. Autopsy revealed that, in all four cases, the stomach walls were congested, pancreas showed gross haemorrhage over the surface and on cut sections, with other visceral organs showing generalised congestion. Later, after visceral and histopathological examination, all cases were confirmed as organophosphorus (dichlorvos) poisoning with haemorrhagic pancreatitis. Acute pancreatitis in organophosphorus poisoning usually has a subclinical course and gets masked by the systemic effects. Haemorrhagic pancreatitis sequela of acute pancreatitis is a rare and fatal complication of organophosphorus poisoning.</p>","PeriodicalId":35529,"journal":{"name":"Medico-Legal Journal","volume":" ","pages":"194-197"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142297196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medico-Legal JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-07-29DOI: 10.1177/00258172241252223
Kartina A Choong
{"title":"Digital-first primary care: An ambivalent legacy of Covid-19?","authors":"Kartina A Choong","doi":"10.1177/00258172241252223","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258172241252223","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The vast majority of GP appointments had to move from in-person to remote consultation during the pandemic. Rather than phasing this out now that the threat of the coronavirus has begun to ebb, the UK government has announced that digital-first primary care will continue for the foreseeable future. While remote consultation can be beneficial on several fronts, it can compromise professional identity, therapeutic alliance, patient safety and access to healthcare. A hasty push towards normalising digitally-enabled care may therefore increase the risk of misdiagnoses, medical negligence, unnecessary referrals and health inequity. To enhance the gains and iron out the challenges associated with IT-led triage and consultations, it is important to reflect on the lessons learned from the pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":35529,"journal":{"name":"Medico-Legal Journal","volume":" ","pages":"201-205"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141793705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medico-Legal JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-06-13DOI: 10.1177/00258172241241463
Tanya Singh, Jagadish R Padubidri, Akshath Ks, Sowmya J Rao, Matthew A Manoj
{"title":"500 bee stings in a single fatal encounter.","authors":"Tanya Singh, Jagadish R Padubidri, Akshath Ks, Sowmya J Rao, Matthew A Manoj","doi":"10.1177/00258172241241463","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258172241241463","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Incidences of multiple bee stings have been increasing globally; the substantial amount of bee venom injected in such incidents can result in anaphylactic shock, rhabdomyolysis and renal failure, proving fatal in some cases. While anaphylactic reactions are more common and have established treatment protocols, inflammatory response induced by the venom demands a tailored approach. Here we report a case of a 70-year-old male in India who succumbed from approximately 500 bee stings. Based on our literature review, this case stands out as one of the first reported fatalities caused by 500 bee stings in our country. The unidentified species of bees in this case makes management of such bee venom-related toxic reactions more difficult. This report emphasises the importance of prompt and appropriate interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":35529,"journal":{"name":"Medico-Legal Journal","volume":" ","pages":"223-225"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11580317/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141318513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medico-Legal JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-10-18DOI: 10.1177/00258172241275250
John F Mayberry, Affifa Farrukh
{"title":"The brick kiln child workers of Pakistan.","authors":"John F Mayberry, Affifa Farrukh","doi":"10.1177/00258172241275250","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258172241275250","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pakistani law recognises that no young person under the age of 18 years can enter into a valid and binding contract. In hazardous industries, such as brick kilns, none of the children working in them have any formal contract, so limiting any rights they may have. Any contract that does exist is with the child's father and will be linked to everlasting debts and constitutes a form of bondage. This paper reviews the adverse medical effects on children of such employment.</p>","PeriodicalId":35529,"journal":{"name":"Medico-Legal Journal","volume":" ","pages":"210-212"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142476543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Medico-Legal JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-11-06DOI: 10.1177/00258172241273546
Samantha Prosser
{"title":"Whistleblowing in the NHS - how to best protect oneself from the costs and consequences.","authors":"Samantha Prosser","doi":"10.1177/00258172241273546","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00258172241273546","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35529,"journal":{"name":"Medico-Legal Journal","volume":" ","pages":"183-193"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142591619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}