Demographic aging: a notion to revisit.

"The article analyzes the concept of ?demographic aging', why ?age 60' (years) was chosen as a threshold for the start of ?aging', and how these notions have been applied in France. Since the nineteenth century, tremendous changes have occurred in the meaning of ?age 60', both in terms of the social and familial roles a person of that age is expected to play, and in terms of expectations regarding such persons' productivity. The author argues that the notions of ?demographic aging' and ?age 60' have been conducive to a negative portrayal of old age, have served as a hindrance in the development of social policy towards aged people, have played a role in reducing the number of active people over 55 years, and have reduced medical research on the processes of aging."     

Involuntary administration of medication in the community: the judicial opportunity

In a state in which patient refusal of antipsychotic medication in all nonemergency situations must be respected, lawyers and psychiatrists in western Massachusetts have employed probate court decisions as involuntary outpatient treatment orders. The legal, administrative, and clinical issues in sustaining court-ordered outpatient treatment are discussed by focusing on case examples demonstrating some successes, some challenges, and some failures. Judicially sanctioned involuntary outpatient treatment presents an alternative model to statutorily based outpatient commitment.     

The notion and classification of expert errors

The author presents the analysis of the legal and forensic medical literature concerning currently accepted concepts and classification of expert malpractice. He proposes a new easy-to-remember definition of the expert error and considers the classification of such mistakes. The analysis of the cases of erroneous application of the medical criteria for estimation of the harm to health made it possible to reveal and systematize the causes accounting for the cases of expert malpractice committed by forensic medical experts and health providers when determining the degree of harm to human health.