Archiwum Medycyny Sadowej i Kryminologii最新文献

In medicolegal practice, rare cases involving suicidal, criminal, or accidental insulin overdose are both analytically and forensically challenging. The aim of this study is to present a model procedure in such cases, developed at the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, with particular emphasis on the possibility of additional confirmation of insulin intake by its immunohistochemical detection at the injection site. In the example case presented here, an immunohistochemical examination using FLEX Polyclonal Guinea Pig Anti-Insulin antibody (code IR002, Dako) confirmed the presence of insulin in the subcutaneous tissue of the victims. In our opinion, the method of immunohistochemical detection of insulin at the injection site can and should be used routinely in such cases.

The article presents the history and the course of medicolegal opinions in the Kingdom of Prussia in the 18th century. The activities of the first institutions dealing with matters in the field of public medicine in the country, including medico-forensics, are described. The article presents the activities of universities and medical faculties, pioneering research by eminent professors of medicine, as well as the most important legal regulations concerning medicolegal judgments. The issue of the participation of expert doctors in court proceedings in order to resolve issues related to the assessment of health and life was discussed. Medicolegal opinions in Prussia developed very dynamically in the 18th century (especially compared to other European countries), and its tradition dates back to the times of Lex Carolina from 1532 and Lex Bambergiana from 1508.

Aim: Comparison of injuries to the facial and cerebral parts of the skull causing death and grievous bodily harm, resulting solely from punches to the facial area of the skull. Assessment and confrontation of both groups in terms of the final criminal-legal classification of the perpetrator's acts. Review of reasons for court judgements with a focus on the subjective elements of the prohibited act. Attempt to verify the hypothesis assuming that death or grievous bodily harm can be caused by a single punch to the facial part of the skull.

Material and methods: Final judgements passed by criminal divisions of common courts of law in cases where death or grievous bodily harm was caused by injuries to the facial and cerebral parts of the skull resulting solely from punches to the facial area of the skull. Assessment of individual cases within each group to determine similarities and differences. Comparative analysis of both groups.

Results: The cause of death in cases involving injuries to the facial part of the skull was rapid suffocation following blood aspiration into the respiratory tract. However, the criminal-legal classification of the perpetrators' actions in these cases was varied. In one case, death resulted from injuries to the cerebral part of the skull, which are extremely rare as a result of a punch to the facial area within the skull. Grievous bodily harm was due to the loss of vision in the eye, typically due to eyeball rupture.

Conclusions: Even though the circumstances of the injuries were similar, different mechanisms were responsible for causing death and grievous bodily harm in the victims. The most severe consequences (death and grievous bodily harm) were not caused by injuries of the same type in any of the cases studied. A single punch to the facial part of the skull may be enough to lead to either grievous bodily harm or death, but the criminal-legal assessment of punching to the face can vary greatly.

The history of humanity is closely related to the use of various poisons, different in each epoch. They served different purposes for centuries. In addition to being a remedy for various ailments and diseases, they also helped to bear the hard life of a person thanks to the possibility of causing mental elation, making it more bearable. They were also used to kill other people, most often for very low motives. The number of poisons existing in particular stages of civilization has been systematically increasing, reaching the number of 100,000 - 500,000 toxicologically active compounds in modern times, with the generally estimated number of known chemical compounds at the level of about 240 million. The research work of thinkers and people of progress is a counterbalance to the evil deeds of poisoners in antiquity and the Middle Ages. These works appeared in the late Middle Ages and are continued in various forms until the present day. As a result of these works, modern toxicological forensic expertise has been developed. However, before it appeared in its modern shape, it had to go through a very difficult development path, which lasted continuously for several centuries. Modern toxicological expertise, based on a highly specialized instrumental methodology, operating with high methodological standards, is the achievement of many generations. These standards have now become a requirement for expert works of our times, and failure to comply with them is treated as a malpractice. This work is a review of the types of poisons and reports in terms of the development and application of toxicological forensic expertise for the purposes of the judiciary.

A significant increase in the number of suicides with the use of helium has been observed in recent years. Deaths with its use are quick and are not accompanied by a feeling of breathlessness. This paper presents the results of a post-mortem examination of a woman who committed suicide by inhaling helium. Conventional postmortem examination did not reveal any post-traumatic changes, while a computed tomography (CT) scans showed the presence of a large amount of gas in the veins and arteries of the whole body and in the heart chambers. In the assessment of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) images, changes resulting from putrefaction were also taken into account. The results of the diagnostics carried out confirm the results of previous reports, which indicated that inhalation of large amounts of helium leads to death not only (as previously thought) in the oxygen displacement mechanism, but also through the formation of gas embolisms.

Aim: The presented cases are related to failure of due diligence found in the binding decisions of medical disciplinary boards in three centres in Poland, showing in what percentage of the cases the patient died, and answering the question of whether the number of deaths changed, and if yes, then why.

Material and methods: The material for this study was collected as a result of the analysis of disciplinary files from 410 final and binding cases before the regional boards in Warsaw, Poznan, and Lodz in 2015-2018, which covers 12.5% of Poland's total caseload.

Results: During the 4 years of decisions studied, one can observe only a minimal downward trend in the number of cases relating to failure of due diligence by physicians in diagnosis and treatment. Patient deaths occurred mainly in such medical fields as surgery, neurology, cardiology, and obstetrics, in 2015-2016 - a total of 28 n Warsaw, 23 in Lodz, and 8 in Poznan.

Conclusions: A reduction in the number of such cases coming up before medical disciplinary boards is primarily the consequence of the growing involvement of the law enforcement/public prosecutors' offices for offences involving medical error. Currently, the legal awareness of Polish patients or, in this case, their families is focused not so much on the fact that a case has to be brought for potential medical error but on which path to take the case so as to win damages, compensation, or an annuity from the physician or from the medical establishment.

Aim: Analysis of different methods of performing illegal abortions and causes of death in women who underwent the procedure during the interwar period.

Material and methods: The study was based on the autopsy protocols from 1920-1939 archived at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum in Krakow, Poland. The analysis comprised the deaths of women during pregnancy or in the perinatal period. The cases in which abortion was performed legally, for medical indications, were excluded.

Results: A total of 101 cases of illegal abortion were identified during the period studied, including 21 abortions performed by midwives, and three abortions carried out by qualified medical personnel. In 19 cases, abortion was done using a catheter or wire, while in eight cases the procedure was performed by injecting an abortion-inducing substance into the uterus or administering an injection into the foetus. Vaginal or uterine injury (27 cases), or vaginal or uterine wall perforation (10 cases), were the most common genital tract lesions indicative of abortion.

Conclusions: The majority of deaths (71) were caused by peritonitis or sepsis originating from an infection involving the genital tract.