Suicide with a butcher's bolt

The captive bolt pistol is an atypical firearm exclusively produced and used for butchery of breeding animals, but in some rare cases, it has been used as a lethal weapon for committing suicide by butchers, breeders and other people who have access to such weapons during their professional activities. This study describes the suicide committed by a butcher in the province of Udine (N. Italy) in 2001 who shot himself with his own captive bolt pistol that produced in the right temporal region a circular wound and a bone lesion of the temporal squama with a groove involving the frontal lobe; he died five days later of the fatal consequences of the meningo-encephalic lesions. The medico-legal issues implicated in this case, seen in the light of the data reported in the international literature, illustrate the difficulties faced when diagnosing these types of lesions, bearing in mind their rarity and peculiar nature, and introduce elements of differential diagnosis regarding lesions produced by similar weapons that lead to ascertainment of the event as accidental, suicidal, or homicidal.     

Medical malpractice: a study of case histories by the Forensic Medicine Section of Bari

The learning objectives of this paper are to study the actual extent of medical malpractice, the medical acts at risk, and their impact on mortality. The number of suits filed against physicians for deaths resulting from alleged malpractice and autopsies ordered by the Judicial Authority in cases of possible therapeutic misadventures are rising. A major factor pushing this trend is public mistrust of healthcare providers and public and facilities. This mistrust is partly fueled by the mass media which, often to gain larger audience shares, sensationalizes single cases of real or alleged iatrogenic injury. Further, the potential for astronomic settlements, either from the single doctor or from the healthcare institution, has increased the number of legal proceedings that start on the basis of mere suspicion. In this context, the autopsy becomes an important instrument for shedding light on the situation, and it must be carried out by highly qualified and experienced professionals capable of ascertaining the cause of death, identifying any possible misconduct, and assessing its consequences. We reviewed the data regarding autopsies performed at the Forensic Medicine Section of the Department of Internal and Public Medicine of the University of Bari over 1991 to 2000. We culled the cases alleged malpractice and, from these, identified those in which the death had truly been caused by medical error. This study also allowed us to understand the incidence of lethal therapeutic misadventures and to identify the medical and surgical branches more frequently involved.     

Scrutinising European Union legislation in light of subsidiarity: the Maltese Parliament

ABSTRACT

One of the main objectives of the Lisbon Treaty was to increase the democratic legitimacy of the European Union (EU). Member state parliaments were, therefore, equipped with new tools for monitoring compliance of EU draft laws with the principle of subsidiarity. The aim of this article is to shed some light on the unicameral Maltese Parliament’s ex ante subsidiarity scrutiny of European legislation. Based on the island’s historical and cultural background, the Kamra tad-Deputati confers great importance to the application of subsidiarity, although it is still in its learning curve over the rapid and effective implementation of such procedures.     

Economic costs of Oxford House inpatient treatment and incarceration: a preliminary report

The Oxford House model for substance abuse recovery has potential economic advantages associated with the low cost of opening up and maintaining the settings. In the present study, annual program costs per person were estimated for Oxford House based on federal loan information and data collected from Oxford House Inc. In addition, annual treatment and incarceration costs were approximated based on participant data prior to Oxford House residence in conjunction with normative costs for these settings. Societal costs associated with the Oxford House program were relatively low, whereas estimated costs associated with inpatient and incarceration history were high. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

‘Local is lekker’: Nation,narration and the sABC's Afrikaans programmes

Abstract

This article provides an exploration of the role of the SABC's Afrikaans language programmes in contemporary South African constructions of national identity. It examines the programmes’ engagement with the construction of (a) national identity by addressing the SABC's mandated obligation towards nation building, and exploring how the broadcaster's Afrikaans programmes are positioned in this regard. The article suggests that the SABC's task to ‘narrate the nation’ is complicated not only by the theoretical dilemmas faced by the terms ‘nation’ and ‘nation building’, but also by the broadcaster's historical ties to the apartheid government. This matter is further complicated for the Afrikaans-language programmes on SABC, given the language's binary position as both ‘unifier’ and ‘oppressor’.     

Media,citizenship and the politics of belonging in contemporary South Africa

Abstract

Drawing on a wide range of theoretical and empirical studies, the articles in this special issue examine issues of citizenship and belonging in South Africa. Questions of belonging and citizenship are neither novel, nor particular to South Africa – they have been high on the intellectual (and popular) agenda internationally since at least the early 1990s. Yet South Africa's history of artificially separating and defining its citizens in the racial regimes of colonialism and apartheid still reverberates today, as is reflected in the continued inequalities marring South African society. Post-apartheid governance of redress still requires the use of apartheid categories of ‘race’, but the terms under which we understand what it means to be South African are much wider, and require continued critical reflection. Using South Africa (and not the global North, as is so often the case) as the focal point for rethinking notions of citizenship and belonging, may urge us to rethink these notions and their meanings within fledgling democracies and societies in transition.