Hepatitis in drug poisonings

In the period between 1983 and 1987 autopsies were carried out on 120 drug victims at the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Hamburg, and 93 cases were serologically tested for hepatitis B. It was found that 50 cases (54%) were positive for anti-HBc, 39 (42%) for anti-HBs, and 5 cases (5%) for HBsAg. The prevalence of hepatitis-B-virus markers was dependent upon the age of the victims. In 81% inflammatory alterations of the liver (including unspecific reactive hepatitis) were diagnosed histologically. The pathogenesis of these serological and pathomorphological findings is discussed. Drug addicts are a group at risk for hepatitis B, and it can spread on account of the epidemiological connection with other risk groups, e.g., prostitutes and homosexuals. Postmortem serological investigations for hepatitis markers proved to be a well-established and reproducible means of differentiating histopathological liver alterations.     

Identification by MRI

A semi-skeletted water-lodged corpse was supposed to be an 82-year-old missed man. Fifteen years ago this person underwent an operation of a trimalleolar fracture of the left ankle joint. Conventional X-ray photograms of the left ankle joint of the water-lodged corpse showed no evidence of an operation. A T-1 weighted spin-echo sequence revealed the entire aspect of the osteosynthesis as documented in the previously performed post-operative X-ray photograms.     

Franz Böhm and the suggestive force of the undefined

Franz Böhm is seen as a cofounder of the Freiburg School of economists and of neoliberalism. As a member of the German Bundestag his influence was strongest on the development of German competition policy. Böhm's writings are widely read and quoted. Even today they are regarded as the obligatory foundation on which economic and systems policy is built. Analysis of his opinions and comparison with other neoliberal views—for example, those of Walter Eucken and Ludwig Erhard—do, however, reveal major differences of opinion. A good number of Böhm's opinions are now practically taken for granted as being the basis of economic policy. Yet taken in the context of strict market economics, some are not in any way acceptable.