Organ procurement in forensic deaths: A retrospective analysis of the Italian context with a focus on the Puglia Region virtuous experience.

Organ transplantation is one the most important contributions of modern medicine to society since it provides a unique therapy for terminal organ failure. However, the development of this therapeutic approach is hindered by the limited organ supply. In Italy, organ procurement requires a multidisciplinary medical-surgical approach in which legal medical doctors (LMDs) are generally tasked with ascertaining the reality of death. Sometimes, a medico-legal report is required when the deceased's family deny their consent to the organs and tissues removal from a potential deceased donor. LMDs can also be appointed by law to carry out post-mortem examinations of potential deceased donors. In these cases, the public prosecutors' interest in preserving the corpse integrity for forensic purposes seems to conflict with the ethical-humanitarian interest in promoting, at most, the opportunity to donate; however, a LMD can act as a mediator and allow both goals. This paper aims to illustrate the Apulia Region experience in reconciling the justice interests with those of a culture promoting deceased organ and tissue donation. It has been pursued by analyzing the virtuous regional organ procurement trend in forensic deaths before and after a crucial 2015 initiative, comparing the results with the national ones, and contextualizing them in the relevant literature to show systemic strengths and weaknesses and inform future Italian policy development.

Determination of causal associations in occupational medicine and the medico-legal context: references and standards.

Causality is a transdisciplinary topic with the medical-legal field representing one of its most exciting aspects. Since medicine and law have different roots and objectives, this article provides references to support occupational physicians and medico-legal experts in the difficult task of establishing occupational causation. In addition to the traditional Bradford Hill criteria and Schilling's Classification, additional standards are provided to enhance critical assessment and contribute to the responsible use of the concept of causation in both the legal and medical-occupational fields.

Proving whiplash injury cases in court.

Car accident victims commonly report cervical spine distortion as their injury. Problems with proving this kind of injury, including its effects, come to light in insurance claims adjustment, and if the tortfeasor driver or the insurer refuses to pay compensation or general damages, such problems should be resolved in court. This paper discusses legal issues involved in proving whiplash-associated disorders under the law as it stood before 7 November 2019 and after the rules of civil procedure were amended.

The challenges of forensic expert accepting cross-examination in trial-centered trial mode / 中国法医学杂志

Today, the direction of litigation reformation is changing trial pattern to be trial-centered and making the trial substantialized. Under this background, the relevant provisions have been launched from the supreme people's court and other departments to make sure that the forensic expert will appear in court and accept cross-examination, and this phenomenon should be normalized and substantiated. In order to ensure the expert opinion can be fully and effectively cross-examined, the medico-legal expert should fulfill obligations, such as respect for the court, answer questions honestly and explain expert opinions. We find that some problems show up in this process: the rate of forensic expert appearing in court is low; the legal nature of expert opinion is not clear; the requirements are not clear;the conflict between forensic expert opinion and other forms of expert evidence, including auxiliary expert, is very clearly. Based on this situation, the author give some suggestions to the forensic expert: keep on learning to improve professional skill; improve the legal knowledge; pay attention to practice and strengthen the ability of expression.

Aplicación del método científico en la realización de peritajes médico legales / Application of scientific method in conducting forensic expertises

La medicina legal es la especialidad médica que reúne todos los conocimientos de la medicina que son útiles a la administración de justicia, cumpliendo una función vital, al facilitar el intercambio de conocimientos entre las ciencias médicas y las ciencias jurídicas. La exigencia científica requerida en la realización de peritajes médico legales constituye un factor determinante para una adecuada administración de justicia. Cuando la Autoridad Judicial solicita un peritaje médico legal, debe entenderse como la solicitud de una investigación de carácter científico en la cual, el especialista en medicina legal, está en la obligación de cumplir a cabalidad como científico que es, basando su investigación en la aplicación del método científico. En la presente revisión se analiza la importancia de la aplicación del método científico en la elaboración de peritajes médico legales.

The Legal Medicine is the medical specialty that reunites all medical knowledge useful to justice administration, performing a vital role as facilitator of the knowledge exchange between medical science and legal science. The scientific management required to perform a medico-legal expertise is a determinant factor for the adequate justice administration. When the Judicial Authority requests a medico-legal expertise, it should be understood as a request for a scientific investigation in which the specialist in Legal Medicine is obliged to completely fulfilled this requirement as a scientist, basing his investigation in the application of the scientific method. In this review, it is analized the importance of the application of the scientific method in the elaboration of a medico legal expertise.

Peritación médico-legal de un homicida. Presentación de un caso / Medico-legal expertizing of a homicide. Presentation of a case

El punto de contacto de mayor importancia entre la psiquiatría y la ley lo constituyó el peritaje psiquiátrico, que intenta esclarecer a través de un conjunto de pruebas el estado mental de un sujeto determinado, con el aporte de elementos científicos concretos al tribunal sobre fenómenos psíquicos, mediante la investigación de la personalidad de los mismos. En esta ocasión se presenta el caso de un individuo masculino, de 30 años de edad, a quien se le realizó un peritaje médico legal tras cometer un delito de asesinato, evidenciándose incapacidad de adoptar normas de convivencia adecuadas al medio sociocultural en el que se desarrolla, con valores morales y éticos prácticamente nulos. Durante la investigación salieron a relucir características de la personalidad disocial del acusado que hicieron posible que cometiera un acto delictivo cargado de gran teatralidad y riqueza imaginativa, en busca de convertirse en centro de atención de lo que para sí mismo constituía un suceso de gran connotación social.

The most important contact point between psychiatry and law is the psychiatric expertizing, intending to elucidate the mental status of certain subject through a whole of proofs, with the usage of concrete scientific elements on psychical phenomena, investigating his personality. In this case, we present the case of a male individual, aged 30 years, subject of a medico-legal expertise after committing a murder, evidencing his incapacity for adopting norms of common life adequate to the socio-cultural environment in which he lived, showing lack of moral and ethic values. During the investigation there arose many characteristics of the dissocial personality of the accused making it possible the commission of a criminal act laden of great theatricalism and imagination richness, looking for attention for what he thought was an act of great social connotation.