Undiagnosed progressive supranuclear palsy in a patient with neuroleptic malignant syndrome due to use of neuroleptics: the utility of autopsy in deaths due to known drug reactions

Medical examiners must decide whether or not a complete autopsy is warranted in evaluation of deaths that have been referred to their office. This decision is influenced by many factors. In most cases, the choice to perform only an external examination occurs in deaths where the decedent had previously documented potentially lethal natural disease or well-documented trauma. We report a patient who apparently died of the sequelae of a well-known complication of pharmacotherapy (neuroleptic malignant syndrome following Haldol administration). The death was referred to the medical examiner's office, where, based upon the history, an external examination was performed. Subsequently, the family requested an autopsy by the treating hospital. The autopsy established the diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). The patient's presenting signs and symptoms were not typical of the disease; however, PSP most likely played a role in the neuroleptic malignant syndrome-like manifestations the patient exhibited following the Haldol administration. The results of the complete autopsy highlight its importance in identifying and enhancing our understanding of the underlying conditions in natural disease-based causes of death involving known therapeutic complications.     

Interdepartmental coordination and northern development

Abstract. This paper examines the relationship of past and current federal structures for northern policy development to existing federal northern policy requirements. Current policy-making machinery, arguably appropriate to an earlier era of northern development, now serves neither the interests of any constituency - native or non-native northerners or the northern resource development industry - nor the national interest. On the basis of a critical analysis of present arrangements, available institutional options for reform are identified and assessed. Far-reaching structural reforms are recommended including the abolition of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND). Sommaire. Les auteurs de cet exposé examinent le rapport entre les structures fédérales, anciennes et présentes, et les exigences actuelles de la politique fédérale dans le Nord. Le mécanisme actuel de la détermination des politiques, qu'on pouvait justifier à une époque plus ancienne du développement du Nord, nesert plus maintenant ni les intérêrs de groupes particuliers - habitants du Nord, autochtones ou non, industries développant ses ressources - ni l'intérêt national. A partir d'une analyse critique des dispositions actuelles, les auteurs identifient et évaluent les options institutionnelles existantes. Ils recommandent des réformesde grande envergure, dont l'abolition du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord.     

Agroindustry and contract farmers in upland West Java

This study examines the experience of contract farmers in the hilly southern region of West Java, using illustrations from two types of upland contracting schemes. The nucleus in one case (smallholder dairy farming) is a co‐operative, and in the second (smallholder hybrid coconuts) a large nationalised plantation corporation. In both cases contract farming communities deviate markedly from the neo‐populist vision of homogeneous, modernising family farms; differentiation is quite marked, and wage labour common. In both cases the institutional framework surrounding contract farmers is in serious need of democratisation; the problem is not one of formal structures in need of revision but of actual function and substance of relationships, which reflect the nature and exercise of power in rural society.     

Patriarchal Investments: Marriage,Dowry and the Political Economy of Development in Bangladesh

This article explores why dowry inflation persists in Bangladesh, despite the country being widely heralded as a development success, especially with regard to gender. The article asks three questions. Does rural Bangladesh show changing patterns of marriage similar to those reported elsewhere in South Asia and more broadly? What might explain the persistent spread and inflation of dowry payments? How might changes in marriage and the inflation of dowry be related to the broader political economy of development in Bangladesh? Analysis of primary data from rural Bangladesh affirms shifts in norms of marriage arrangement and conjugal relationships, but also emphasises considerable continuity. The political economy of development in Bangladesh is briefly described. Dowry is argued to function not as compensation for perceived weakness in women’s economic contribution, but to bolster men’s. In mobilising “additional” resources, dowries help sustain the economic system and indicate ongoing commitment to cultural idioms of masculine provision and protection, against a background of widespread corruption and political and gender violence.     

Do Constraints Limit Opportunism? Incumbent Electoral Performance Before and After (Partially) Fixed-Term Laws

Political Behavior - Over the last two decades, a number of Westminster parliamentary countries have adopted fixed or partially fixed election dates in response to growing public concerns about the...     

Exploring the Origins of the American Administrative State: Recent Writings on the Ambiguous Legacy of Alexander Hamilton

Books reviewed:
Arnold A. Rogow, A Fatal Friendship: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
John Steele Gordon, Hamilton's Blessing: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Our National Debt.
Peter McNamara, Political Economy and Statesmanship: Smith, Hamilton, and the Foundation of the Commercial Republic.     

Communications

Abstract

President Nixon’s January 25th speech represented not the beginning but the end of negotiations. It signified that the U.S. is downgrading the Paris talks and that no further secret negotiations are taking place. Nixon’s statement of the “U.S.-South Vietnam Proposal for a Negotiated Settlement” and its rejection by the other side is the latest clarification of a truth which has underlain the Paris Peace Talks since they began, namely that the contradictions between the Nixon Administration’s vision of a peace in Indochina and that of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam (PRG) and the North Vietnamese are irreconcilable. Nixon has never been, and is still not, willing to make the kind of concessions necessary to make real progress in the negotiations because he has throughout been committed to the maintenance of a staunchly anti-communist government in Saigon and the continuation of dominant U.S. influence over the domestic politics of South Vietnam. As a result, the PRG has not been willing to make the kind of concessions which would allow scope for negotiation because this would mean committing political suicide by entrusting itself to the tender mercies of the Thieu government.