Pesticide poisoning initially suspected as a natural death

A pesticide poisoning victim suspected initially as having died a natural death was autopsied. The victim was a 47-year-old male. Macroscopically, signs of acute death and, in particular, general erosion in the mucosa of the airways and esophagus were observed. In the gastric contents, which had a pungent smell and a greenish-brown color, 5.00 g/L of propanil, 1.27 g/L of carbaryl, 0.38 g/L of ethylbenzene, and 0.32 g/L of xylene were detected. In the blood (serum), 21.6 mg/L of propanil, 8.1 mg/L of carbaryl, 1.7 mg/L of ethylbenzene, and 4.0 mg/L of xylene were identified. Postmortem methemoglobinemia (45%) was recognized. The cause of death was considered to have been pesticide poisoning; propanil was probably most responsible for his death. The police considered the case to be "death with illness as the suspected cause." By performing an autopsy, however, we were able to clarify that the cause of death was pesticide poisoning.     

Chronology of a homicide and an attempted suicide by DNA analysis of selected blood stains on the weapon (knife)]

A five-year-old boy was fatally injured by a stab and a cut to the throat. The suspected offender, an acquaintance of the victim's mother, stated that he had been disturbed by the boy while attempting suicide and had therefore killed the boy. The suspect showed superficial cuts on both wrists and three shallow stabs on the right-hand side of the abdomen. The purpose of the forensic investigations was to answer the question if the suspect's statement could be confirmed or if the attempted suicide took place after killing the boy. The blood-smeared blade of the knife was divided into different sectors with the cutting edge and the tip of the blade being examined separately from the sides. The blood traces from the different blade sectors were then typed in 12 different DNA regions by PCR (polymerase-chain-reaction). It could be demonstrated that the strong blood traces on the sides of the blade originated from the victim alone, whereas in the area of the edge and the tip of the blade the amount of the victim's blood was negligible compared with that of the suspected offender. The explanation for this finding is that in the areas of the edge and the tip of the knife the blood of the victim must have been replaced by the blood of the suspected perpetrator, which means that the suicidal injuries were the last to be caused by the knife.     

Legal considerations of sleep deprivation among resident physicians

Medical training in the United States often takes the form of a grueling endurance test in which patients are often those most at risk. This Article discusses sleep deprivation among resident physicians in the United States with an eye towards resolving the problem through legal channels. It analyzes the effects of sleep deprivation on resident physicians, with subsequent discussion of the implications for patient care and medical training. Next, it makes comparisons to medical training in other developed nations, as well as regulations that exist in the airline and trucking industries, where public safety is a principal concern. Furthermore, this Article discusses proposals to mend the dilemmas created by sleep-deprived resident physicians through statutory and regulatory reform, deterrence by way of tort law, and unionization or collective bargaining.     

Protecting genetic materials and genetic information: a case study of Guthrie Cards in Victoria

The authors are privileged to have been provided with correspondence about a dispute over the ongoing storage of genetic material (as Guthrie Cards) in Victoria. The correspondence details confusion over the roles of government and the private sector service provider in accounting for the storage, use and destruction of these stored genetic materials collected as part of a government public health program. The purpose in publishing this account is to highlight the present inadequacies in current practices and the ongoing potential for a crisis in the management of collected genetic materials through a lack of appropriate regulation, transparency and accountability. The article suggests measures to remedy some of the existing inadequacies in contractual arrangements and recommends that the government retain ownership and control of both the genetic materials and the derived information to ensure some accountability in the present legal environment.     

Ontario to develop a viatical industry

On 4 October 2000, Bill 119 (or the Red Tape Reduction Act, 2000) was introduced and received first reading in Ontario's provincial legislature. Like many of the other similarly titled bills the Harris government has introduced, Bill 119 proposes to change a long list of existing statutes in an effort to make Ontario more business friendly. Schedule G of Bill 119 sets out a mechanism whereby a viatical industry in Ontario would be made legal if a licensing scheme is first put in place by the Ministry of Finance.     

Identifying sex chromosome abnormalities in forensic DNA testing using amelogenin and sex chromosome short tandem repeats

Forensic DNA laboratories worldwide have begun using multiplexed STR systems to decrease analysis time and increase sample throughput. The loci used in these systems are basically "nonsense" regions of human DNA. However, due to the chromosome on which some of these loci are located, various genetic abnormalities can sometimes be detected. This paper will show one such abnormality--Klinefelter's Syndrome--and the process used to show the possibility of this defect in two undiagnosed males using peak height ratios at the Amelogenin locus, and X-Y STRs.     

A shot through the window

At issue in this case was whether an unusual window defect seen in two of the crime scene photographs was due to a bullet and if so, if that same bullet fatally wounded the victim. The window appeared to have been cracked prior to the apparent shot through it. A .22 bullet recovered from autopsy, when examined only by light microscopy, failed to show associated glass fragments. A previously cracked test window was shot a number of times with .22 caliber bullets near the cracks in an effort to simulate the window defect seen in the crime scene photographs. Several of the defects produced by the test window shots appeared similar to the crime scene window defect. The .22 bullet taken from the victim and several of the test bullets (collected by a cotton box) were examined by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The test bullets showed glass particles on and embedded in their surfaces. Particles of similar size and composition were found embedded in the surface of the bullet from the victim. The bullet likely struck the window prior to hitting the victim. It was apparent by the morphology of some of the mushroomed test .22 bullets that they hit the window crack. These bullets showed that the glass on one side of a crack often fails before the other side during the strike. Aggregations of powdered glass on many of the mushroomed surfaces of the .22 bullets suggest that as the bullet mushrooms during impact on the window surface, the glass in contact with the bullet powderizes and coats the mushroomed surface of the bullet with a layer of fine glass particles.