A bizarre case report of self-harm by ingested lock trapped in oropharynx.

The present case report deals with a highly and yet unreported case of self-harm in which a medium sized lock was ingested with convulsive movements of the face and neck which ultimately got trapped in oropharyngeal region. The lock managed to „sink‟ and settled down in that region so that the patient did not feel any gross pain once it was swallowed. There was history of mental illness reported by the attendants of the patient that remained unverified since no treatment card or the name of drug(s) was shown to the treating team of doctors. Therefore, it remained speculative whether the attempt to swallow lock was as a result of psychiatric illness or was supplemented by other social factor notable the influence of “Tantrik”. Tantriks are special breed of spiritual healers who resorted to unscientific method of healing. At times they use unethical practices. There are reports in which tantrik have provoked their unsuspecting victims to highly complex maneuvers leading to self-harm. The present case, it is believed falls in this category.

It Is Time the Sternum Gets a New Name.

Names of objects change over a period of time. New words come up to keep in line with innovations and technology. Neologism requires that the new word entrant should be concise, phonetically strong and resemble the function towhich thewordmay be used. Internet language is the latest invention inwhich theword has been so abbreviated that at times the user is frightened that its continuous usage would finally obliterate the real word. To counter that threat old-timers adopt duality in action, i.e., they would use internet language while using internet portfolio and would revert to the old language while scripting text. However, in certain cases it is better to discard the old robe in favor of new when the coined word would instill more confidence and is in harmony to the function it is required to perform. In this way the word is remembered accurately and used with finesse. Presented in this paper is the strong defense for change of the word “sternum” to “saber” and reason why this change is desired.

Access of high technology based medical diagnostic tool to convicted prisoners lodged in a typically large indian jail: CT scan as case study.

Computed tomography scan of whole body or part of the body is an excellent tool that has elbowed out other radiological procedures demoting their diagnostic importance. However, it is costly to install and operate successfully following the prescribed procedure of equipment maintenance, overhaul and replacement of depleted parts. Keeping this in view, this exercise was contemplated to find out if convicted prisoners lodged in jail are being discriminated at any time by denying CT scan against medical advice. A typically large Indian jail was selected because it would be reflective of similar conditions prevailing in other jails. It was found that although the prescription rate of CT scan was less in prison inmates as compared with the general population, no element of discriminatory nature or prejudice could be detected. Search on internet and other related journals yielded no result on this topic. Hence it was felt that a beginning should be made. In future large sample studies could be taken up for an authoritative work. Such a work would serve the requirement of the government for enacting policies as well as create awareness among the penitentiary officers.