Autonomy, justice, and disability

In this Article, Professor Carlos A. Ball explores the philosophical foundations for the types of rights and benefits that our society currently provides to individuals with disabilities. The concept of autonomy places on society a moral obligation to assist individuals with disabilities when their basic human functional capabilities are impaired. The exercise of this obligation entails assisting individuals with crossing a minimum threshold of functional capabilities below which it is not possible to lead autonomous lives. In making this argument, Professor Ball responds to libertarian critics who contend that notions of freedom or liberty proscribe an activist role for government in this arena. He explains how even a libertarian state redistributes wealth in order to provide for some incapacities. Professor Ball also disputes the idea that the meeting of the needs of the disabled is enough to provide moral justification for the rights and benefits provided to individuals with disabilities. The problem with the concept of needs, Professor Ball argues, is that it fails to account sufficiently for the human good of personal autonomy.     

Oregon's guidelines for physician-assisted suicide: a legal and ethical analysis

Oregon's Death with Dignity Act was first passed by a ballot initiative in 1994, but numerous judicial challenges delayed implementation of the Act. In November of 1997, following the United States Supreme Court decisions in Vacco v. Quill and Washington v. Glucksberg, which left the states' power to regulate physician-assisted suicide undisturbed, the Oregon voters upheld their law. Oregon remains the only state in the nation to authorize physician-assisted suicide. The Task Force to Improve the Care of Terminally Ill Oregonians published a Guidebook for health care providers on the Oregon Act, and the New England Journal of Medicine recently issued a special report on the first year's experience under the Act. This paper analyzes the legal context of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, discusses the efficacy of the tenets in the Guidebook, and explores ethical issues underlying the guidelines, particularly those pertaining to the meaning of a patient's request for assisted suicide and processes supporting informed consent.     

Detection of semen in stains on material evidences by quantitative immunofluorescence test

Russian and foreign methods used in forensic medicine for detection of the semen in stains on material evidences are compared. The potentialities of quantitative immunofluorescence test for detection of the semen in stains on material evidences, developed at Bureau for Forensic Medical Expert Evaluations of the Leningrad region, are described. Unlike other methods used in Russia, this method detects the semen in stains in the absence of spermatozoa and in stains with very low amount of the semen. Our modification allows objective recording of the results with computer processing. The method is cheaper than its foreign analogs and its sensitivity is similar to them.     

Forensic medical evaluation of professional working capacity in victims, who needs additional care

The philosophy of evaluating the need of a victim in extra care is discussed. The method for evaluating the need in transport vehicles for the victim is described in detail. Legislative documents which help solve such problems are cited, including those used by committees of forensic medical evaluations.     

Comparative analysis fo heroin

A protocol for comparative analysis of heroin making use of chromatographic methods and infra-red spectroscopy is presented.     

Participation of forensic medics in anthropological examinations of the Orthodox church burials

Examinations of the rudiments of the Russian Orthodox Saints are reviewed. The burial of holy people in Russia is described. The results of examinations of rudiments of the Saints, Reverend Iosaph of Belgorod, Cornilai Padansky, and Arsenii Konevsky, are presented. A detailed algorithm of expert steps is suggested.     

Use of Adobe Photoshop software in medical criminology

Describes the method of comparative analysis of various objects in practical medical criminology and making of high-quality photographs with the use of Adobe Photoshop software. Options of the software needed for expert evaluations are enumerated.