反思精神障碍强制医疗的“危险性”原则

很多国家精神卫生立法在强制医疗人院标准方面都适用了“危险性”原则,我国《精神卫生法》也在其列。然而,“危险性”原则是基于三个错误的假设,因此实际上“危险性”原则可能会增加精神疾病对患者的伤害和较大程度增加社区危险的风险。本文呼吁参考Large及Richardson的观点及美国部分州与苏格兰精神卫生立法的实证经验,在“危险性”原则基础上补充“拒绝治疗的能力”评定作为精神障碍者强制医疗入院标准。     

论医疗事故技术鉴定意见的证明力及存在的问题

符合法律规范的医疗事故技术鉴定意见在行政处理医疗纠纷上具有证明力,可以从鉴定人资格和条件、鉴定程序和方法等方面予以印证。但当其作为诉讼中的法定证据鉴定意见使用时,其证据力方面还存在一定问题,尤其与新修订的《民事诉讼法》存在不一致,应予完善,以提高其证据力。     

中医医疗技术损害侵权鉴定中的证据审查分析简

近些年,随着全民养生保健意识的逐步提高,选择中医治疗的患者越来越多,接踵而来的是因中医医疗技术损害引起纠纷的案件数量的攀升。但目前国内外大多数都是按照西医治疗的标准进行鉴定,一直未形成具有针对性、系统性、统一性的中医医疗纠纷鉴定的标准与原则。本文中,作者旨在结合《侵权责任法》中医疗技术损害责任的相关规定,阐述中医辨证论治的特点,审查分析中医医疗技术纠纷鉴定中的相关证据。     

特殊医疗纠纷解决路径研究--对一般医疗纠纷解决路径的反思与突破

特殊医疗纠纷因其医患地位平等性而区别于传统意义上的一般医疗纠纷。在过去,一般医疗纠纷解决主要有合同和侵权两种路径,但以侵权路径为主。之所以如此,是因为合同路径不符合医方的角色定位,且难以帮助患者获得精神损害赔偿。然而,侵权路径亦有劣势,其难以涵盖整个医患关系,且无法解决医患实质平等。综合来看,解决纠纷审判宜采合同路径。主要理由有四:第一,合同路径能够适应特殊医疗纠纷基本特征。第二,合同路径并不排斥精神损害赔偿。第三,选择合同路径有助于《消费者权益保护法》适用的证成。第四,合同路径有利于促进医患形成"命运共同体",缓解医患矛盾。     

Sudden death in an adolescent due to undiagnosed classic Hodgkin lymphoma

Few cases of natural sudden death presenting as an undiagnosed lymphoma have been reported in the literature, especially in adolescents. Herein we provide a report of sudden death caused by undiagnosed classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). We describe an 18-year-old female who collapsed after several weeks of weight loss, decreased appetite, and dyspnea. At autopsy, a bulky mass arising in the mediastinum and neck compressed the esophagus and trachea, surrounded the great vessels, obliterated the pericardial sac, and infiltrated the myocardium. The lungs were collapsed and large pleural effusions were present. The tumor burden, which weighed at least 2710 g in aggregate, was entirely above the diaphragm. Microscopic examination of the masses showed features typical for nodular sclerosis cHL including large bands of sclerosis, numerous Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells, and an eosinophil-rich mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate. Immunohistochemical stains showed the HRS cells to be uniformly positive for CD30 and CD15 and negative for CD3, CD20, CD45, and PAX5. This case exemplifies a rare sudden natural death due to previously undiagnosed cHL in a young patient.     

医疗损害责任的规制逻辑与适用路径——以《民法典》与“医事法”的协调为视角

为推进对《民法典》的规范阐释,促使其与医事法的衔接、互补,应对"医疗损害责任"的规制逻辑与适用路径进行明晰。"医疗损害责任"整体延续了《侵权责任法》的概念体系和框架结构,在说明义务、责任主体以及责任构成等方面加以创新。其作为《民法典》的具体规范,对总则编之规定予以遵从,是侵权责任编一般规定的特别法;其作为医事法的基本范畴,处于上位效力层级之中,与其他规范条文形成条件关系和并列关系。鉴于此,应遵循"从民法典到医事法"的适用路径,藉由内外在规范的自足与互助,明确规范条文之间的内在关联,实现规范概念的阐明和规范内涵的拓补,以推动《民法典》相关规则的贯彻实施,促进我国医事法学的蓬勃发展。     

Towards molecular autopsies: Development of a FFPE tissue DNA extraction workflow

Sudden unexpected death (SUD) is a devastating event and forms a substantial proportion of the cases investigated at forensic mortuaries each year. Despite post-mortem investigations, the cause of death may remain undetermined. There is potential for these unresolved cases to benefit from retrospective molecular autopsies for investigation into genetic mutations which may have contributed towards death. Often, formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues (FFPET) are the only archival sources of DNA available for retrospective analyses. However, extracting usable DNA from FFPET is challenging as current methods yield poor quality and quantity DNA. Thus, this study aimed to optimise DNA recovery from FFPET by investigating several variables within the DNA extraction workflow, including the selection of tissue type, number and thickness of tissue sections, deparaffinisation method, and DNA extraction kit. The quantity and quality of DNA recovered were assessed using spectrophotometry, real time PCR, digital capillary electrophoresis and DNA profiling. This study was the first to implement a nuclei quantification using microscopy to guide the selection of the best tissue type to use for DNA analysis. The use of a greater number of thinner tissue sections (100 sections, each 1 μm) significantly improved DNA concentration, purity and fragment length. Additionally, the combination of Deparaffinization Solution with the QIAamp® DNA FFPE Tissue Kit proved most favourable with a median DNA yield of 320 ng and 55% of DNA fragments greater than 400 bp. Isolated DNA was of single source, indicating no contamination in the workflow, and FFPET blocks that were stored for up to 3.5 years did not significantly affect DNA degradation (p = 0.1764). These results are especially informative for designing library preparation and sequencing workflows for determining cause of death in unresolved SUD cases.     

医疗废物处置管理的法治应对

医疗废物具有危险性、污染性、毒性等特征,一旦得不到及时、安全、妥善处置,就可能产生二次传染,对环境安全和人民生命健康造成严重威胁。文章针对我国医疗废物处置管理存在的问题,从完善医疗废物处置管理立法体系、法律机制和监督问责制,建立多元机制等方面提出了有效的建议。     

Technical and interpretive pitfalls of postmortem CT: Five examples of errors revealed by autopsy

Image acquisition of dead bodies, particularly using postmortem computed tomography (PMCT), has become common in forensic investigations worldwide. Meanwhile, in countries such as Japan which have an extremely low rate of autopsy, PMCT is being increasingly used in the clinical field to certify the cause of death (COD) without performing an autopsy or toxicological tests, even in cases of unnatural death. Additionally, these PMCT images are predominantly interpreted by clinical personnel such as emergency physicians or clinicians who are not trained in PMCT interpretation and who work for the police, that is, the so-called police doctors. Many potential pitfalls associated with the use of PMCT have been previously described in textbooks and published papers, including the pitfalls of not performing a complete forensic pathology investigation, and the use of physicians without appropriate PMCT training to interpret PMCT and direct death investigation and certification. We describe five examples in which apparent misdiagnosis of COD based on PMCT misinterpretation was revealed by autopsy. Here are the five examples of errors: (1) Postmortem changes were misinterpreted as COD, (2) resuscitation effects were misinterpreted as COD, (3) COD was determined after an incomplete examination, (4) fatal findings caused by external origin were wrongly interpreted as ‘of internal origin’ based on PMCT, and (5) non-fatal findings on PMCT were wrongly interpreted as fatal. Interpretation of PMCT by appropriately trained physicians and an accompanying complete forensic investigation, including autopsy when indicated, is necessary to prevent significant errors in COD determination and related potential adverse medicolegal consequences.     

Eosinophilic myocarditis from a forensic histopathological perspective

Eosinophilic myocarditis (EM) is a rare and potentially fatal form of myocarditis characterized by infiltration of the myocardium with eosinophil leukocytes, often accompanied by eosinophilia. Although the exact underlying cause remains unknown, it has been shown to be associated with hypersensitivity reactions, immune-mediated disorders, infections, or cancer. Due to the differences in symptomatology, it is often diagnosed by postmortem histopathological examination. We aimed to retrospectively examine the histopathological findings of rare cases of EM and to detect accompanying cardiac and other organ pathologies. The histopathological findings of the cases that underwent autopsies between 2012 and 2020 and were diagnosed with EM were assessed. Demographic features, symptoms, causes of death, macroscopical findings at autopsy, toxicologic and microbiological analysis results, accompanying cardiac pathologies, and histopathological findings in other organs were evaluated. Myocarditis was detected on histopathologic examination in 558 (1.1%) of 49,612 forensic autopsies. There were 12 (2.3%) EM cases. There were nine males and four females. The mean age was 42.3 (3–83) years. Heart weights ranged from 82 to 564 g. The most common finding on macroscopic examination was the mottled discoloration and scarring in the myocardium. Microscopic examination revealed perivascular and interstitial infiltration of eosinophils in all of the cases accompanied by myocyte necrosis in four of them. EM was reported as the cause of death in four cases. EM remains a challenging heart disease with its obscure etiopathogenesis and varying clinical presentation and a rare entity diagnosed by postmortem histopathological examination in sudden and unexpected deaths.