{"title":"Medicolegal response to domestic violence cases: Qualitative insights from a tertiary care hospital in West Delhi, India.","authors":"Loveena Sehra","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2025.056","DOIUrl":"10.20529/IJME.2025.056","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Domestic violence is a pervasive public health issue in India, significantly impacting women's health and well-being. Disclosures of domestic violence frequently occur during healthcare encounters, making hospitals and related settings critical spaces for inquiry. In this context, the aim of the study is to explore the social and medicolegal dimensions of domestic violence within a hospital setting through the lens of healthcare documentation and understand the role of healthcare providers in managing and recording these cases.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study examined the medicolegal classification and documentation of domestic violence cases in a tertiary care hospital in West Delhi by manually reviewing medicolegal case registers, the quality of case documentation, and assessing standard operational procedures of hospitals. Interviews were also conducted with healthcare professionals to gain insights on the same.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The findings reveal that poor documentation practices in medical records compromise the reliability of evidence, hinder the assessment of prevalence and patterns, and obstruct effective interventions. Despite the existence of a comprehensive legal framework, cultural challenges significantly impede the effective identification and documentation of domestic violence incidents. Healthcare providers reported multiple barriers in identifying and documenting domestic violence, including high patient loads, resource limitations, lack of training, and the overarching challenge of integrating healthcare with medicolegal requirements.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Insights from the study underscore the urgent need for improved recognition, training, and standardised documentation practices to enhance the response to domestic violence within healthcare settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":517372,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":"X 4","pages":"265-271"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145454483","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}
{"title":"2024 Revision of Declaration of Helsinki: policy perspectives from India.","authors":"J Raajasiri Iyengar, Roli Mathur","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2025.050","DOIUrl":"10.20529/IJME.2025.050","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The 2024 Declaration of Helsinki (DoH) marks a significant milestone in medical research ethics, addressing contemporary challenges and emphasising global ethical issues. In India, the 2017 Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) National Ethical Guidelines, align well with the 2024 DoH principles, particularly in safeguarding vulnerable populations and promoting ethical review processes. However, there is scope to work on further harmonisation and better implementation, such as registering all medical research, empowering ethics committees, and ensuring equitable access and inclusion. This perspective highlights the strengths and limitations of the ICMR guidelines in light of the 2024 DoH, aiming to foster a research environment that upholds ethical integrity, inclusivity, and the well-being of all participants.</p>","PeriodicalId":517372,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":"X 4","pages":"304-309"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145454416","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}
{"title":"The use of \"tortured phrases\" in science communication.","authors":"Janmejaya Samal","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2025.036","DOIUrl":"10.20529/IJME.2025.036","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A recent publication in an Indian journal stated that \"Charak is known as the dad of Ayurveda (or) the dad of Ayurvedic medication.\" Such inappropriate terms used in science communication are called \"tortured phrases\". The use of such phrases could suggest deeper issues in science communication, such as concealment of plagiarism and fraudulent research facilitated by paper mills. Non-expert writers and AI tools are being used in the mass production of research articles in paper mills that report fabricated data, graphs and tables mimicking legitimate research papers. Although efforts are being made to detect tortured phrases, poor editorial review allows the publication of articles with tortured phrases in reputed journals. This compromises scientific integrity and leads to wastage of resources. Proper screening, rejection of inappropriate language and transparency in the editorial process can help to curb this unethical practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":517372,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":"X 4","pages":"309-310"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145454518","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}
{"title":"Off-label use of baclofen for alcohol use disorders in India: no ethics without science.","authors":"Alain Braillon, Florian Naudet","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2025.044","DOIUrl":"10.20529/IJME.2025.044","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Off-label use of drugs, when not supported by sound scientific evidence, hinders the development of evidence-based medicine and therapeutic innovation, is costly to the healthcare system, and exposes patients to unnecessary risks, including mortality, for an uncertain benefit. Off-label use of baclofen is the preferred pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorders in India, despite its negative benefit/harm ratio, and the fact that acamprosate or naltrexone have long been established as robustly evidence-based medicines. This unacceptable state of affairs only illustrates the fact that the marketing strategies of industry cannot be the sole basis for prescribing a drug.</p>","PeriodicalId":517372,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":"X 4","pages":"311-312"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145454463","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}
Ronit Calderon-Margalit, A Mark Clarfield, Hagit Hochner, Maureen Malowany, Yehuda Neumark, Shira Nanavati, Ora Paltiel
{"title":"Response to \"Israeli academia during the genocide: supporting the state through words and silences\".","authors":"Ronit Calderon-Margalit, A Mark Clarfield, Hagit Hochner, Maureen Malowany, Yehuda Neumark, Shira Nanavati, Ora Paltiel","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2025.074","DOIUrl":"10.20529/IJME.2025.074","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This is a response to Dr Panchal's opinion piece that accused us, teachers, directors and staff of the programme he participated in, of not discussing or protesting against the situation in Gaza during the academic year of 2023-24. We find this accusation to be utterly wrong and incorrect. Beyond taking care of the safety of our students, the School facilitated discussion in class regarding the situation. Furthermore, some of the authors participated in protests and publicly advocated for the wellbeing and health of the Gazan population starting already in the early days of this war. Finally, we find it unethical that Dr Panchal did not approach us on this issue, either during his stay in Israel or before or after he chose to publish his opinion.</p>","PeriodicalId":517372,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":"X 4","pages":"318-320"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145454440","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}
{"title":"Off-label use of baclofen: A response to Kattula.","authors":"Florian Naudet, Alain Braillon","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2025.073","DOIUrl":"10.20529/IJME.2025.073","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The \"discussion\" on our commentary about baclofen use in India perpetuates misconceptions. We want to: a) highlight the flood of overlapping and conflicting meta-analyses that obscure rather than clarify baclofen's effects; b) stress the importance of pivotal trials which support hypothetico-deductive reasoning and provide the basis for regulatory decisions. Such trials use only high-dose baclofen without proven benefit but serious safety concerns, including mortality. Practitioner enthusiasm, lived experience, or off-label consensus - whether in the global North or recycled in the global South - cannot replace rigorous trial evidence. We call for careful evaluation of pivotal evidence and robust research.</p>","PeriodicalId":517372,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":"X 4","pages":"315-318"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145454448","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}
{"title":"Remembering Zafrullah Chowdhury (1941-2023): Reflections on his second death anniversary.","authors":"S Srinivasan","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2025.027","DOIUrl":"10.20529/IJME.2025.027","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The cost of healthcare became an intense political issue with the systematic analysis of multinational pharmaceutical corporations and their track record. Medicines and their cost, and affordable access to healthcare, were too important to be left to doctors in big hospitals and executives of drug companies, and to indifferent governments. Such issues were discussed through the 1970s to the turn of the 21st century. Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury was part of this generation of pioneers. On his second death anniversary, the author remembers his qualities as a person and as a freedom fighter, and his contributions to public health, especially the landmark 1982 Drug Policy of Bangladesh.</p>","PeriodicalId":517372,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":"X 4","pages":"325-327"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145454460","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}
{"title":"Emerging e-pharmacy sector in India: ethical and regulatory concerns.","authors":"G Haripriya, P C Harigovind, Rakesh P S","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2025.041","DOIUrl":"10.20529/IJME.2025.041","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The rise of e-commerce has significantly broadened the marketplace, introducing greater convenience and accessibility to the desired products at the doorsteps of consumers. In recent years, even pharmacies have embraced the online platform. E-commerce plays a crucial role in providing technologically advanced healthcare services to all. While e-pharmacies provide numerous benefits, there are also inherent risks that can impact the health and well-being of patients. Since no legislation in India specifically deals with the e-pharmacy sector, they are governed by the existing legislation that regulates the pharmaceutical industry. This paper seeks to analyse challenges in regulating the e-pharmacy sector and to critically evaluate the applicability and effectiveness of the existing legislations in ensuring the safety and integrity of online pharmaceutical transactions in India.</p>","PeriodicalId":517372,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":"X 4","pages":"288-292"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145454480","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}
{"title":"Medical education in India: Disturbing trends.","authors":"Olinda Timms, Sanjay A Pai","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2025.072","DOIUrl":"10.20529/IJME.2025.072","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Medical education in India appears to be failing on multiple counts. Much has been written on this subject, including in this journal [1, 2]. Yet, little seems to have changed and in fact, disturbing new trends have arisen. An article in The India Forum by historian and medical commentator, Kiran Kumbhar, points out glaring errors of assumption and planning by the Government of India (GOI) and its Ministry of Health [3]. This has led to the mushrooming of privately-owned medical colleges without adequate infrastructure and faculty, leading to low quality medical education; in time this will result in low quality healthcare services. For some years now, authorities have cited a World Health Organization (WHO) requirement of \"one doctor for 1000 patients\" for an effective health policy; Kumbhar points out that such a WHO metric does not, in fact, exist! [3] Ostensibly, under pressure to achieve this unsubstantiated target, the government has encouraged privatisation of medical education, focused primarily on achieving the desired numbers of doctors. Recently, the Government even claimed success in achieving this magical ratio, using doubtful data and statistical calisthenics [3], even while the health metrics of the country continue to be woefully low, and millions do not have any access to affordable medical care.</p>","PeriodicalId":517372,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":"X 4","pages":"261-264"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145454449","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}
{"title":"Reconsidering the ethics of off-label medication use: A response to Braillon and Naudet on baclofen use in alcohol use disorders in India.","authors":"Dheeraj Kattula","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2025.065","DOIUrl":"10.20529/IJME.2025.065","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>High diffusion of the use of baclofen in patients with alcohol use disorders (AUD) in India has raised concerns from Braillon and Naudet. They say the practice is based on poor evidence and ignores possible harms to patients. This article critiques their arguments and makes a reasoned, ethical, and evidence-informed case for baclofen as a treatment option for AUD, albeit a second-line one, especially because of issues with acceptability and cost of other approved pharmacotherapies.</p>","PeriodicalId":517372,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":"X 4","pages":"313-315"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145454466","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}