New Trends in Forensic and Legal Medicine: Second Edition

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Forensic Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 October 2023) | Viewed by 14465

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Law, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Macerata, Via Don Minzoni 9, 62100 Macerata, Italy
Interests: forensic pathology and anthropology; forensic toxicology; clinical legal medicine
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The purpose of the second edition of this Special Issue is to analyze the new most promising lines of research that have been proposed in the various traditional sectors of forensic medicine (forensic pathology, forensic anthropology, forensic toxicology, forensic hemogenetics, forensic entomology, damage evaluation, professional medical responsibility evaluation) and to explore new fields of interest in the discipline for the future. Attention will be focused on the relationship between forensic medicine and clinical risk management; on the development prospects of environmental forensic medicine; on the medicolegal implications of artificial intelligence; on the development and consolidation of clinical forensic medicine, at the patient’s bed; on the evaluation of cold cases with the recent acquisitions of forensic sciences and medicine; and on the applications of legal medicine to the violations of human rights (in immigration, terrorism and war scenarios). This Special Issue invites works from leading researchers working on individual aspects of these topics.

Prof. Mariano Cingolani
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Forensic medicine
  • Forensic sciences
  • Clinical forensic medicine
  • Risk management

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1421 KiB  
Article
Effects of the Italian Law on Patient Safety and Health Professional Responsibilities Five Years after Its Approval by the Italian Parliament
by Giuseppe Candido, Fidelia Cascini, Peter Lachman, Micaela La Regina, Chiara Parretti, Valentina Valentini and Riccardo Tartaglia
Healthcare 2023, 11(13), 1858; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11131858 - 26 Jun 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1798
Abstract
The application of the Italian law No. 24/2017, which focused on patient safety and medical liability, in the Italian National Health Service has been evaluated by a survey conducted five years after the promulgation of the law. The law required the establishment of [...] Read more.
The application of the Italian law No. 24/2017, which focused on patient safety and medical liability, in the Italian National Health Service has been evaluated by a survey conducted five years after the promulgation of the law. The law required the establishment of healthcare risk management and patient safety centers in all Italian regions and the appointment of a Clinical Risk Manager (CRM) in all Italian public and private healthcare facilities. This study demonstrates that five years after the approval of the law, it has not yet been fully implemented. The survey revealed a lack of adequate permanent staff in all the Regional Centers, with two employees on average per Center. Few meetings were held with the Regional Healthcare System decision-makers with less than four meetings per year. This reduces the capacity to carry out functions. In addition, the role of the CRMs is weak in most healthcare facilities. More than 20% of CRMs have other roles in the same organization. Some important tasks have reduced application, e.g., assessment of the inappropriateness risk (reported only by 35.3% of CRM) and use of patient safety indicators for monitoring hospitals (20.6% of CRM). The function of the Regional Centers during the COVID-19 pandemic was limited despite the CRMs being very committed. The CRMs units undertake limited research and have reduced collaboration with citizen associations. Despite most of the CRMs believing that the law has had an important role in improving patient safety, 70% of them identified clinicians’ resistance to change and lack of funding dedicated to implementing the law as the main barriers to the management of risk. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Forensic and Legal Medicine: Second Edition)
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12 pages, 252 KiB  
Article
Stereotypes and Prejudices in Nursing Prison Activities: A Reflection
by Guido Vittorio Travaini, Francesco De Micco, Francesca Biscella, Elisa Carminati, Emma Flutti, Francesca Garavaglia, Laura Marino, Arianna Zini, Roberto Scendoni and Anna De Benedictis
Healthcare 2023, 11(9), 1288; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11091288 - 30 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2515
Abstract
Background: In the prison environment, the nursing profession has particularly complex peculiarities and aspects, so much so that prison nurses require advanced specialist skills and specific education. Can nurses’ stereotypes and prejudices in prison settings affect nursing care? What are nurses’ perceptions of [...] Read more.
Background: In the prison environment, the nursing profession has particularly complex peculiarities and aspects, so much so that prison nurses require advanced specialist skills and specific education. Can nurses’ stereotypes and prejudices in prison settings affect nursing care? What are nurses’ perceptions of the prison environment and people in detention? This study aims, on one hand, to outline the figure of the nurse in the prison environment and current regulations and, on the other hand, to explore whether and how stereotypes and prejudices may affect the way care is provided. Methods: Starting with an analysis of the literature, the authors administered a questionnaire to a group of nurses who shared data and reflections. Results: This study sheds a new light on nursing in the prison environment, exploring how nurses’ stereotypes and prejudices may affect the care of patients. Conclusions: It would be desirable to develop research in this field to enable a more conscious approach to a world that is still considered distant and dangerous, and to overcome the misperceptions and prejudices that may negatively affect the way of caring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Forensic and Legal Medicine: Second Edition)
14 pages, 1835 KiB  
Article
A Semi-Automatic Method on a Small Italian Sample for Estimating Sex Based on the Shape of the Crown of the Maxillary Posterior Teeth
by Ilenia Bianchi, Giorgio Oliva, Giulia Vitale, Beatrice Bellugi, Giorgio Bertana, Martina Focardi, Simone Grassi, Domenico Dalessandri and Vilma Pinchi
Healthcare 2023, 11(6), 845; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060845 - 13 Mar 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1508
Abstract
Teeth are known to be reliable substrates for human identification and are endowed with significant sexual dimorphism not only in the size but also in the shape of the crowns. In the preliminary phase of our study (already published in 2021), a novel [...] Read more.
Teeth are known to be reliable substrates for human identification and are endowed with significant sexual dimorphism not only in the size but also in the shape of the crowns. In the preliminary phase of our study (already published in 2021), a novel sex estimation method based on dental morphometric geometric (GMA) analysis combined with the artificial neural network (ANN) was developed and validated on a single dental element (first upper premolar) with an accuracy rate of 80%. This study aims to experiment and validate the combination of GMA–ANN on the upper first and second left premolars and the upper left first molar to obtain a reliable classification model based on the sexual dimorphic traits of multiple maxillary teeth of Caucasian Italian adults (115 males and 115 females). A general procrustes superimposition (GPS) and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed to study the shape variance between the sexes and to reduce the data variations. The “set-aside” approach was used to validate the accuracy of the proposed ANN. As the main findings, the proposed method correctly classified 94% of females and 68% of males from the test sample and the overall accuracy gained was 82%, higher than the odontometric methods that similarly consider multiple teeth. The shape variation between male and female premolars represents the best dimorphic feature compared with the first upper molar. Future research could overcome some limitations by considering a larger sample of subjects and experimenting with the use of computer vision for automatic landmark positioning and should verify the present evidence in samples with different ancestry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Forensic and Legal Medicine: Second Edition)
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15 pages, 285 KiB  
Article
The Importance of the International Community in Protecting the Right to Abortion: The Cases of Malta and of the US Supreme Court
by Andrea Cioffi, Camilla Cecannecchia, Luigi Cipolloni, Alessandro Santurro and Fernanda Cioffi
Healthcare 2023, 11(4), 520; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11040520 - 10 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2701
Abstract
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), abortion is often necessary and is not a criminalizable medical act. Unfortunately, despite the global trend in recent years tending towards liberalization of abortion as a fundamental right of women in certain circumstances, it is still [...] Read more.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), abortion is often necessary and is not a criminalizable medical act. Unfortunately, despite the global trend in recent years tending towards liberalization of abortion as a fundamental right of women in certain circumstances, it is still not guaranteed in all countries of the world in the same way. Moreover, the abortion debate is often characterized by unscientific opinions based on political and/or religious ideologies. Recently, a European episode has rekindled the debate on abortion: in Malta, a tourist was unable to have an abortion, with consequent risks, even serious ones, on her health. In addition, even in the United States a Supreme Court ruling created a considerable stir: the Roe v. Wade (1973) ruling that had legalized abortion at the federal level was revoked. After the ruling of the Supreme Court, each state of the USA can decide for itself whether and how to legalize abortion. These recent international developments are particularly worrying and make even more evident the need for abortion to be protected at an international level as an inalienable and fundamental human right, and therefore not to be limited. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Forensic and Legal Medicine: Second Edition)

Review

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8 pages, 209 KiB  
Review
Honor Killings in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: A Narrative Review
by Sarah M. AlQahtani, Danah S. Almutairi, Eman A. BinAqeel, Reema A. Almutairi, Reem D. Al-Qahtani and Ritesh G. Menezes
Healthcare 2023, 11(1), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11010074 - 27 Dec 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4962
Abstract
Honor killing is a violent crime committed by one or more perpetrators, in which the crime’s intention is to restore honor to their family. In this narrative review, the authors investigate the epidemiology of honor killing in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Furthermore, the [...] Read more.
Honor killing is a violent crime committed by one or more perpetrators, in which the crime’s intention is to restore honor to their family. In this narrative review, the authors investigate the epidemiology of honor killing in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Furthermore, the social, cultural, and legal aspects of honor killing are discussed. Numerous socio-cultural factors lead to the action of killing for honor in this region. They include deeply rooted patriarchal dominance, the desire to maintain social status, and being poorly educated. Honor killing perpetrators have similar characteristics, such as rating female chastity at a higher price and justifying violence against women. The impact of honor killing on family members is much greater than the perceived families’ beliefs of the community’s rejection of the female’s dishonorable behavior. Silence culture dominates these societies, and many crimes are under-reported in this region. Often, a judicial trial is not conducted for such heinous crimes. Penal code reforms, campaigns to promote human rights, steps to improve the education level, and active participation of civil society in condemning such crimes are a few essential measures that need to be considered in order to curb the social evil of honor killing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Forensic and Legal Medicine: Second Edition)
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