Just compensation: a no-fault proposal for research-related injuries

Biomedical research, no matter how well designed and ethically conducted, carries uncertainties and exposes participants to risk of injury. Research injuries can range from the relatively minor to those that result in hospitalization, permanent disability, or even death. Participants might also suffer a range of economic harms related to their injuries. Unlike the vast majority of developed countries, which have implemented no-fault compensation systems, the United States continues to rely on the tort system to compensate injured research participants—an approach that is no longer morally defensible. Despite decades of US advisory panels advocating for no-fault compensation, little progress has been made. Accordingly, this article proposes a novel and necessary no-fault compensation system, grounded in the ethical notion of compensatory justice. This first-of-its-kind concrete proposal aims to treat like cases alike, offer fair compensation, and disburse compensation with maximum efficiency and minimum administrative cost. It also harmonizes national and international approaches—an increasingly important goal as research becomes more globalized, multi-site trials grow in number, and institutions and sponsors in the United States move to single-IRB review.     

没有处方买到处方药而引发纠纷的案件分析与思考

药物与人们的生命健康息息相关，也是引发医疗纠纷和诉讼的重要因素。我国目前在保护公众用药安全的制度方面还存在较大的问题，为保护人民用药安全，我国应当尽快出台药品分类管理条例和执业药师法，加快药品分类管理制度和执业药师制度的建设。     

Ultimate opinion proscriptions: A cosmetic fix and a plea for empiricism

In recent years, ultimate opinion testimony given by mental health experts in insanity trials has come under strident criticism as an unwarranted incursion into the legal arena. This article examines the merits of such criticism and concludes that attempts to eliminate such testimony will not achieve their intended goals but will obscure more substantive issues inherent in insanity evaluations and subsequent testimony. The article then recasts problems in expert testimony in a broader conceptual basis buttressed with empiricism.     

没有处方买到处方药而引发纠纷的案件分析与思考

药物与人们的生命健康息息相关,也是引发医疗纠纷和诉讼的重要因素。我国目前在保护公众用药安全的制度方面还存在较大的问题,为保护人民用药安全,我国应当尽快出台药品分类管理条例和执业药师法,加快药品分类管理制度和执业药师制度的建设。     

Stereolithography: a potential new tool in forensic medicine

Stereolithography is a computer-mediated method that can be used to quickly create anatomically correct three-dimensional epoxy and acrylic resin models from various types of medical data. Multiple imaging modalities can be exploited, including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The technology was first developed and used in 1986 to overcome limitations in previous computer-aided manufacturing/milling techniques. Stereolithography is presently used to accurately reproduce both the external and internal anatomy of body structures. Current medical uses of stereolithography include preoperative planning of orthopedic and maxillofacial surgeries, the fabrication of custom prosthetic devices; and the assessment of the degree of bony and soft-tissue injury caused by trauma. We propose that there is a useful, as yet untapped, potential for this technology in forensic medicine.     

赌博罪、赌博中的违法行为与娱乐活动的界定

赌博,是指用财物作注比输赢,以偶然性的胜负争财物或财产利益得失的行为。对赌博罪、赌博中的违法行为与娱乐活动进行界定,可以使我们正确区分罪与非罪,赌博罪、赌博中的违法行为与娱乐活动的界限以及认清赌博中的犯罪与违法的特殊形态和表现形式。     

Meta-analyses in research in forensic medicine: Alcohol, drugs, diseases and traffic safety

The meta-analytic approach is one of the most informative methods to structure and combine findings of different studies. Hence, even in forensic sciences meta-analyses were used to arrange knowledge. At most this technique was applied to summarize results of experimental and epidemiological studies on alcohol, illegal drugs, medicines, diseases and driving or skills related to driving. The article demonstrates the method used and the results obtained.     

From Bilski back to Benson: preemption, inventing around, and the case of genetic diagnostics

The long-anticipated decision in Bilski v. Kappos was supposed to end uncertainty regarding the patentability of process claims (or, at the least, business method claims). Instead, the opinion featured a series of anomalies: The Court emphasized strict construction of the Patent Act, but acknowledged three judge-made exceptions to patentability. It disapproved State Street, the Federal Circuit case that had upheld business method patents, but could muster only four votes for the proposition that business methods are in fact unpatentable. But even though the Court upheld business method patents, it invalidated all of Bilski's hedging claims. And while the Justices agreed on one thing - a patent that "preempts" something (a mathematical formula, an approach, a commonly used idea, a wide swath of technological developments, the public's access) is bad - they failed to operationalize the concept. That problem had plagued the law prior to State Street; in the interest of preventing the same set of problems from recurring, this Article uses recent empirical studies on gene patents to tease out indicia ("clues") to supplement the machine-or-transformation test for determining when a claim is preemptive and therefore invalid. Chief among these clues is the inability to invent around claims that cover broad prospects.