Dr. Anu Sasidharan

Contriving an opinion of cause of death is something that requires a good expertise in the subject knowledge<br>and the right set of discriminative skills. The immediate and basic causes of death, circumstances surrounding<br>the death, and the investigation findings of police officers are all the necessary prerequisites to be gathered,<br>before formulating an opinion. Decisions on the cause of death most often de facto will decide the manner<br>of death.<br>A forensic pathologist can give causes of death in a logical sequential manner. Hume’s and Mill’s philosophy<br>is something to be always borne in the mind of a forensic pathologist. Istanbul Protocol is the only literature<br>mentioning as to how to opine an effect, with respect to the causes or circumstances that led to the effect.<br>This can be extrapolated to have five different compartmentalised categories of opinions. Unless there is<br>certain uniformity in opining, the more are the chances of confusion among our fraternity and the judiciary

A medico-legal autopsy on an adult if performed completely and systematically, with a reasonable uniformity and clarity can help in the betterment of outcomes while providing justice. The pre-requisites prior to an autopsy, and a thorough external examination are very important before moving on with the internal examination. In many situations a proper external examination will be sufficient to give a medico-legal report; if done methodically. There are four types of skin incisions employed in a medico-legal autopsy to examine three body cavities. The internal examination can be done using four dissection techniques as outlined in the existing literature. Examination of brain, heart, neck structures, spinal column and genitalia are very important and requires an organized approach in order to not to miss salient findings. Finally, while closure of the cadaver the doctors must bear a very important fact in mind that the body on the table was once housed by a living being and hence s/he must be treated with the same respect and dignity as one would expect him/herself to be treated by others.

Background Prescription drug suicide merits study to guide the development of strategies to reduce suicide risk. We examined prescription drug suicide specifically in non-abusers of prescription drugs; this is a relatively unexplored subject. Methods Six-year data on prescription drug suicide in non-abusers were extracted from the records of the Department of Forensic Medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. These records contained information obtained from the scene of the suicide, from interviews with relatives of the deceased, and from forensic toxicological analyses at two laboratories. Results There were 27 (8%) cases of prescription drug suicide in non-abusers out of 338 cases of suicidal poisoning. The mean age of this sample was 26 years. The sample was 74% male. Nearly half of the cases (44%) were students. A combination of dextropropoxyphene with dicyclomine, with or without paracetamol, was used by 41% of cases. Overdose was achieved through the ingestion of 10–40 (median, 30) tablets or by the injection of 2–3 (median, 2) vials of medication. In 52% of cases, it appeared that the drugs had been procured over the counter. Conclusions It is reassuring that the absolute number of prescription drug suicides in non-abusers was small; the findings, however, are important because they could serve as a baseline for assessing time trends in future studies. For the present, we suggest that prescription drugs of potential abuse, especially those containing opioids and antispasmodics, should be prescribed and dispensed judiciously, especially to youth.

The importance of a medico-legal case doesn't end by the conclusion of the autopsy examination. Medico-legal cases are unique and there are some important 'take home messages' to be taken from each case into the society for the benefit of the common man. Careful observations and inquisitive thinking can bring forth interesting as well as educative lessons. These lessons should be imbibed in the most effective manner not only by the doctors, police officers and judiciary but also by the society as a whole. We hereby present a case report of an infant who died due to injuries sustained to her head in the most unfortunate manner. We have presented the various medico-legal aspects and extenuating circumstances that are surrounding this case in adjunction with the existing literature. Thereby in this case scenario some light has been thrown upon those 'hard truths' that are commonly overlooked, in order to bring out the grey areas and moot points that can be involved in similar situations.

an-unfortunate-infant.pdf

Background: Teacher education curricula should enable teachers to facilitate learners' acquiring knowledge, attitudes, behavior and skills that they will need in their profession. Though there are faculty development programmes that are being conducted in India, there are only a few published reports of the same. Aims & Objectives: To assess the " Effectiveness of a Short training in Teaching Methodology for entry level Medical Teachers. " Settings and Design: A quasi-experimental study with pre-test post-test design and an educational intervention was carried out on 30 consenting Senior Residents at a Medical College in Kochi. Material & Methods: The intervention was eight-hour training in teaching methodology using a curriculum designed by the researcher in consultation with experts. Data analysis was done using SPSS software to compare the pre and post-test scores of the residents. Results: Overall feedback was positive. The participants reported that " they had learned a lot " and were of the view that " the course would help them to put forward better performances " when assigned teaching-learning tasks. The pre-test and post-test scores were compared and significant improvement was found with regard to knowledge, motivation to teach (reflecting attitude change) and practice. Conclusion: A short training in teaching methodology has helped entry level medical teachers to become more effective in their teaching.

Diatom frustules are examined routinely during autopsies of deaths due to drowning. Presence of same species of diatoms (in similar concentrations) as that of the putative
drowning medium from the internal organs of drowning victims constitute a corroborative or even conclusive evidence to support the diagnosis of death. This paper highlights the relationship of diatoms with that of drowning victims and provides an overview as to the digestion techniques and microscopic examination of siliceous residues of diatoms. Role of diatoms in identification of a site of drowning has been emphasized with suitable case studies from literature.