Legal medecine

The press regularly echoes disturbing disappearances of children and adults, suicides, victims of accidents, homeless, the often fortuitous discovery of bodies or human remains. The identification process of the person will be comparative when there is a presumption of identity and estimative in case of absence of presumed identity. In 2011, a retrospective study over 6 years at the Poincaré Hospital IML (Medico Legal Institute) in Garches states the surprising figure of over 1500 burials under X per year in France...

Son of Louis-Theodore Laveran, holder of the Chair of Diseases and Epidemics in the Armies at the Val-de-Grâce and grandson of an artillery commander through his mother, Alphonse, born in Paris on June 18, 1845, follows in his father's footsteps by entering the Imperial School of Military Health in Strasbourg at the age of 18.After his thesis, he participated in 1870 in the war against Prussia. He was taken prisoner in Metz. He then prepared for the competitive examination to become a professor, which he passed in 1874...

The practice of telemedicine is likely to raise ethical and legal problems that affect the doctor-patient relationship. Therefore, the respect of ethical principles is necessary, in addition to the involvement of the legislator, who must enact specific instruments capable of identifying all the problems caused by telemedicine and contributing to a certain humanization of the doctor-patient relationship.

In France, transidentity is no longer considered a "mental disorder" since 2010. For the WHO, it took until 2022. France is also one of the few countries to take care of almost the entire transition pathway. However, this pretty tree hides a jungle of obsolete texts and coding, discrimination in care, administrative and psychiatric constraints, transphobic rejections… Officially, the only recommendations regarding the medical history of transgender people date from 1989. Thirty-four years later, the High Authority for Health (HAS) is undertaking a profound overhaul of the recommendations made to doctors and associations concerned with the health of trans people...

CONTEXT: Despite instituting a policy in 2004, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) continuously struggled to routinely provide safe abortion care (SAC). In 2016, the organization launched an initiative aimed at increasing availability of SAC in MSF projects and increasing understanding of abortion-related dynamics in humanitarian settings. METHODOLOGY: From March 2017 to April 2018, MSF staff conducted support visits to 10 projects in a country in sub-Saharan Africa...

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INTRODUCTION: Drafting a death certificate is an obligation for any physician called upon to note a death. It has a legal and epidemiological impact. The objective of this study is to highlight the obstacles encountered by professionals when this process takes place in a home setting. METHOD: A study was carried out by means of a questionnaire sent to doctors in the Normandy region. RESULTS: One fifth (20%) of the general practitioners (GPs), 25% of the SAMU practitioners (intervening in mobile emergency throughout the country), 27...

Return to work is at the crossroads of complex medical, legal, economic and social concepts and involves a multitude of stakeholders who are often far removed from the reality of care in the medical practice. This article presents some basic concepts on return to work and explores some good practice guidelines. It also describes the role and limits of the occupational physician in the company and mentions possible areas of collaboration with social insurers and employers. It aims to provide concrete elements for the practice of the primary care physician...

OBJECTIVE: To explore Canadian FPs' experiences with, perceived barriers to, and perceived facilitators of FP-initiated partner notification (PN) for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as to inform the development of tools that might enhance this work. DESIGN: Online survey. SETTING: British Columbia. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 146 FPs recruited through the Divisions of Family Practice community-based networks of FPs throughout the province...

Long disregarded by "western medicine", "traditional medicine", which retains strong cultural links in many parts of the world, has been exported for twenty years as an alternative medicine in western countries. Its place today oscillates between a claim for recognition by emerging and developing countries while countries where technical medicine is triumphant are mainly concerned about risks to public health or the discovery of new drugs. Therefore political strategies, sometimes opposed, are emerging arousing both nationally and internationally the development of "legal strategies" to take better account of this ancient heritage with high potential development...

There is currently a growing demand in favor of non-conventional medicines. The use of unconventional practices is interesting, not only for the patient himself, but also for the community (in order to face the contemporary problems of health expenditure, access to healthcare, and the aging of the population). However, we can ask ourselves about the protection of patient's rights when he uses unconventional care practices. There is a gap between the growing demand for unconventional care, and the low level of legal framework of these practices by French law...

Technological advances in synthetic biology have made in vitro modification, or even creation, of viruses easier and more affordable. Several research studies using synthesis of potential pandemic pathogens led to controversies in the 2010's. More recently, the hypothesis that Covid-19 pandemics could originate from a lab escape is still under debate. In France, a legislative vacuum remains concerning the synthesis of modified pathogens. Initiating a collective reflection process towards setting of a legal framework on this type of work is timely so that research continues to provide profit to society rather than hazard...

Therapeutic advances have increased the survival rates of children and adolescents affected with chronic diseases. For these young patients, however, the transition from pediatric to adult medical care has been identified as potentially associated with disruptions in care. Switching to services for adults implies a profound change in the patient's relationship with the healthcare system, moving from family care, centered on the adolescents and their parents, to individual care delivered by services or establishments with rules different from those of pediatrics...

CONTEXT: A law legalizing the farming of medical cannabis for the international market was passed in Lebanese parliament in April 2020. Thus, this makes Lebanon the first Arab country to legalize medical cannabis, a law which can hold potential public health consequences. The advocates of legalization of medical cannabis in society and in the media influence the public opinion. A community of Lebanese physicians was the first to be asked about this subject. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess a sample of physicians' opinions, knowledge and experiences with medical and non-medical cannabis...

Many developments in biology and biotechnology have relied on the HeLa cell line, originally derived in 1951 from a Black cancer patient without her knowledge. This origin became generally known at the turn of the century, and the patient's descendants have sought and obtained some recognition and some control but little compensation. They have now retained two famous attorneys to sue a biotech firm for very extensive damages, with more legal action planned against other companies. This may have important repercussions for the biotech industry, and raises complex issues regarding ownership of biological material and compensation to patients from whom these materials have been obtained...

INTRODUCTION: In France, pathological examination is not systematically required in forensic autopsies. The factors affecting the decision to carry out a pathological expertise have not yet been defined. The aim of this study was to describe in which conditions a pathological expertise was required after forensic autopsy by the high court of Montpellier. METHODS: This study included and analyzed retrospectively all of the autopsy elements, of all forensic autopsies carried out over a year...

INTRODUCTION: Medical opinion leaders represent a marketing tool whose effectiveness is well documented in France and worldwide. They are less distrusted than pharmaceutical representatives, but this trust declines when they declare their ties. In France, the public database "Transparence-Santé" presents the financial ties of each professional with the health industries since 2012. These ties must be declared at the beginning of any public intervention since 2002 to improve the transparency of healthcare stakeholders...

Caring for victims of harassment can be difficult. Different forms exist, some of which are difficult to detect. Every general practitioner must pay attention to the various warning signs that the victim may present. Careful, empathetic listening on the part of the general practitioner is necessary to take care of these victims. An important place in the consultation is the medical report, which can be used later in a legal process. The general practitioner does not work alone, can count on other medical and non-medical partners...

One major concern in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic has been to ensure the protection of certain categories of population considered to be at especially high risk in the event of an infection. This article gives an overview of the legal status of the «vulnerable» person in Switzerland and explores the role of the treating physician in this context, particularly with regard to labour law. The physician will have to assess the status of «vulnerable person» and, where applicable, issue a vulnerability certificate that can be presented to the employer...

"Physician's role in the medical and legal protection of elderly patients.The world and french population is currently aging and losing autonomy both medically and legally. Preventing the vulnerability and loss of autonomy of the elderly is a public health objective. These complex situations could be anticipated through an exchange of elderly patients with their general practitioner. The evolution of medical protection measures (such as advance directives and the appointment of a trustworthy person) and the evolution of legal protection measures (such as a mandate for future protection, family empowerment, placement under guardianship or curatorship, ...