Forensic-medical evaluation of medical care errors in obstetric-gynecological practice

The authors show the necessity of elaboration and practical application of normative documents (standards) and forensic-medical criterions of assessment of defects in obstetric-gynecological medical aid. The examples of the above assessment are given in the article.     

Forensic medical expert evaluation of lethal poisoning with narcotics

Morphological manifestations of lethal narcotic poisoning are analyzed on the basis of results presented in "Acts of Medical Examination of Corpse" and "Expert Conclusions" on 352 cases with lethal narcotic poisoning, suspected (with good grounds) poisoning, and combined poisoning with narcotics and other agents. Causes of failure to detect narcotics in forensic chemical analysis of biological material from the corpse are enumerated.     

Forensic medical expert evaluation of gunshot injuries of brain skull

Forensic medical experts are offered a set of morphological signs which help identify the gunshot origin of a skull injury, identify which of the injuries is the inlet and which is the outlet, specify the direction of the shot and succession of formation of injuries in cases with several shots. The author suggests evaluating a gunshot wound in the head with due consideration for the mechanisms of its formation. From a complex of signs of a gunshot injury to the brain skull he singles out the tissue defect with a conical channel and the edge of bone defect, additional injury to the external compact plate near the inlet, and type, number, and location of the radial and concentric cracks. Analysis of the morphology of the above listed signs of gunshot injuries to the skull notable extends the potentialities of forensic medical expert evaluation in cases with gunshot injuries.     

Urgent problems of forensic medical expert evaluation of disability in civil suits

The author discusses urgent medicolegal problems related to evaluation of the degree of occupational disability, necessity of additional diet for victims, which arise in connection with civil actions of persons who underwent non-occupational trauma.     

Expert evaluation of medical documentation data in estimating the severity of injuries

Analysis of false expert conclusions related to unjustified clinical diagnosis is given. Failure of critical attitude of medicolegal experts to X-ray and neurologic symptomatology data in posttraumatic period is stressed.     

New prospects in forensic medical expert evaluation of perforating wounds of the eye

The criterion "percentage of stable loss of total working capacity" is usually used in expert evaluation of perforated wounds of the eyes. However it does not always allow an objective evaluation of the ocular status. Visual acuity can vary greatly during the posttraumatic period for a rather long time, becoming worse or better during up to 1 year. Treatment and observations of 160 victims (165 eyes) helped determine the major clinical symptoms of perforated wounds and distinguish 8 symptoms characteristic of severe injuries. Use of these symptoms as criteria for evaluating the severity of injury inflicted to health helps make an objective conclusion without waiting for recovery.     

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.     

Criteria of expert assessment of professional errors in dentistry

The most frequent errors in dental practice are analysed. Questionnaires, schemes and formula for objective assessment of medical documentation quality in dentistry are proposed.     

Organization and procedure of forensic medical expert evaluation of professional working capacity loss

Sixty-one forensic medical expert conclusions on the loss of professional working capacity are analyzed and typical errors are characterized. The procedure of forensic medical expert evaluation of the degree of loss of professional working capacity in accordance with the Civil Code and Civil Judicial Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and the actual norm-setting documents is described.     

Antigenic differentiation of blood stains by the Lewis system in practical forensic medical expert evaluation

A modification of quantitative absorption and absorption elution tests with blood stain washing before the absorption phase is presented. Due to washing, the effect of carrier object on anti-Le(a) and anti-Le(b) sera is decreased and the sensitivity of the method is increased. Additional adsorption of the sera and elution into test erythrocytes treated with protease C is suggested for increasing the number of standard sera fit for the absorption-elution test. A new technology for preparing anti-Le(a) and anti-Le(b) immunoreagents is described.