Archiwum medycyny sa̧dowej i kryminologii
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Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol · Apr 2007
[On the causes of medical errors in life-threatening conditions--a medico-legal assessment based on the material of the chair and Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, collected between 2000 and the end of June, 2006].
The authors analyzed the medico-legal opinions on medical management issued by the Chair and Department of Forensic Medicine Katowice between 2000 and the end of June 2006. Among 101 cases, in which medical errors were recognized, in 82 instances inappropriate medical management was associated with direct life-threatening conditions, such as acute cardiac syndrome, cerebrocranial injuries, cerebral an aortic aneurysms, pulmonary embolisms, acute abdominal diseases, such as perforated gastric and duodenal ulcers, appendicitis, post-traumatic rupture of the spleen, and acute metabolic disorders. The majority of errors was diagnostic in character and involved the staff of emergency services, admission rooms and detoxification centers. The investigators also drew attention to factors affecting the degree of risk of medical error commission and the most common causes of inappropriate medical in life-threatening conditions.
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Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol · Apr 2007
[Differentiation possibilities in posttraumatic neuropsychiatric disorders in medico-legal certification].
This paper is a continuation of the previous work entitled "Difficulties in estimation of posttraumatic neuropsychiatric disorders for the purpose of criminal and civil law proceedings" presented during the 5th National Symposium "Days of Medical Certification", Poznan 2005. Referring to the then mentioned problem, the authors present in a greater detail the possibilities of objectivization of claims using simple psychiatric and psychological diagnostic tools
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Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol · Apr 2007
[Opinionating difficulties in cases concerning the use of psychoactive agents by traffic participants].
In recent years, there has been observed an increasing number of traffic participants being under the influence of drugs or other than alcohol agents that affect the central nervous system. In the period from 1997 until June 2006, 435 blood samples collected from traffic participants suspected of having ingested psychoactive agents were examined in the Forensic Medicine Department, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice. Eighty-five blood samples were positive.
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The author addresses several issues concerning the current condition of forensic medicine and further trends of its development. One can believe that the split and the crisis of forensic medicine may result from the enfeeblement of its institutional character caused by changes to legal proceedings requirements. Disintegration seems to be also caused by strong subspecialty tendencies resulting from the progress and the increasing specialization in individual biological sciences forming a joint paradigm of forensic medicine, i.e. medico-legal toxicology, hemogenetics, histopathology and classic forensic medicine.