A STUDY OF PATTERN OF CUSTODIAL DEATH : A TWO YEAR PROSPECTIVE STUDY.

Death occurring in some form of custodial detention is commonly known as death in custody, such as police cell or prison. A person in custody is entirely dependent on his custodians for his basic requirements hence this type of death raises questions regarding living conditions, inhumane treatment and violation of fundamental rights of prisoners. This prospective analytic study was carried out during period January 2019 to December2020 in Department of Forensic Medicine at PMCH Patna Bihar. This study observed 56 judical custodial deaths that maximum cases were males 93%and 7% were females. Age group above 55 years(40%). Maximum cases were brought in month of September(23%)followed by August (16%). Most prisoners died in hospital during treatment (82%).Deaths among 56 custodial deaths convict prisoners were dominated 41(73.21%) over undertrial prisoners 15 (26.79%) in jail custody.Pulmonary tuberculosis was the most common natural cause of death among prisoners. The natural causes was in 89% cases and unnatural in 11% cases . Majority of deaths in custody are due to natural causes and this may occur due to various factors like improper medical facilities, overcrowding in jail, old age, poor nutritional status, poor hygiene etc.

Philemon and Baucis deaths: A case of two siblings and state of the art

The simultaneous discovery of two corpses at the same scene obliges the forensic pathologist to consider many circumstances. First, the hypothesis of homicide/crime has to be investigated. However, when the circumstances, autopsy, histological data and toxicological and biochemical analyses suggest a natural cause of death, Philemon and Baucis syndrome should be considered. While a few cases of Philemon and Baucis deaths involving couples of spouses have been reported in the literature, only one paper describes the simultaneous deaths of two siblings. The case presented here concerns the death of two siblings who were found in an advanced stage of decomposition in their apartment, which had been allocated to them by social services. The victims were known to be living in conditions of social and economic deprivation and to be suffering from psychiatric disorders. The first suspected cause of death was malnutrition. However, this was excluded by complete autopsy, histological studies and, especially, biochemical investigations, which excluded starvation ketoacidosis. Moreover, no evidence of trauma or poisoning was found in either of the bodies. Despite the advanced stage of decomposition, one of the bodies presented with histological signs of myocardial sclerosis, left ventricular hypertrophy and contraction band necrosis, suggesting that the mechanism of death involved a fatal arrhythmia. The circumstances and the post-mortem findings were highly suggestive of Philemon and Baucis syndrome.

Risk for Premature Mortality and Intentional Self-harm in Autism Spectrum Disorders

To examine the risk for premature mortality and intentional self-harm in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Based on a national birth cohort. Children born in 1987–2005, diagnosed with ASD by 2007 (n = 4695) were matched with four non-ASD subjects (n = 18,450) and followed until 2015 for mortality and intentional self-harm. The risk among ASD subjects was elevated only for natural cause of death. The risk for intentional self-harm was increased in the unadjusted analyses, but decreased to non-significant after adjusting for comorbid psychiatric disorders. ASD subjects are at increased risk for premature mortality due to natural causes of death. While ASD subjects die of suicide and present with more self-harm, the association is explained by comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Traffic Education involving Children in Latin America and Brazil.

The Traffic Education is currently a reality to be considered, considering that traffic accident is the main cause of death among children and adolescents, surpassing even homicides and any other “natural” cause of death, where it aims to preserve the life and physical integrity of humans beings in traffic situations. Thus, this article aims to present the contextualization of public policies for the reduction of accidents suffered by children from Early Childhood Education to Elementary School in Latin America and Brazil in the last decade. In conclusion, Traffic Education can contribute to the formation of adequate behaviors of children and adolescents, changing, in the medium and long term, the behavior of adults, where the school, family and government should be involved, emphasizing that this work should begin from an early age and extend to higher education.

Fear of Death and Death Acceptance Among Bereaved Adults: Associations With Prolonged Grief

This study aimed to analyze fear of death and neutral acceptance of death after a significant loss and their associations with prolonged grief. The sample of the study included 239 bereaved participants. Time since the loss ranged from 6 to 72 months. We found that neutral acceptance of death was associated with older age, a natural cause of death, and the ability to find meaning in the death of a close one. Fear of death was negatively associated with the frequency of practicing religion. We found that fear of death but not neutral acceptance was significantly associated with prolonged grief symptoms.

The Coroner

The coroner is an independent judicial officer, appointed by the local authority and responsible for investigating deaths in certain circumstances. The coroner investigates violent or unnatural death, deaths of unknown cause, and deaths that occurred in custody or otherwise in state detention. It is the coroner’s role to establish the identity of the deceased person, as well as how, when, and where they died. Neither a coroner nor a jury may express an opinion on any matters other than the four factual questions nor can any verdict be framed in such a way as to appear to determine any question of criminal or civil liability. No matter how justified, the coroner has no jurisdiction to investigate unless there is a statutory trigger and no duty to hold an inquest where the investigation has revealed a natural cause of death and there is no related and compelling reason to do so.

The value of postmortem computed tomography in paediatric natural cause of death: a Dutch observational study

Background Postmortem CT is a relatively new field of interest within paediatric radiology. This paper focusses on its value in cases of unexpected natural death. Objective We report on an observational Dutch study regarding the value of postmortem CT in children with an assumed natural unexpected death because postmortem CT is part of the Dutch NODO (additional investigations of cause of death) procedure. Materials and methods We included consecutive children who fulfilled criteria for the NODO procedure and were therefore referred to one of the centres for the procedure. Postmortem CT was performed in all cases and skeletal survey was performed in all children ages <5 years. The cause of death was defined in a consensus meeting. Results We included a total of 54 children (30 boys, median age 1.1 years, and 24 girls, median age 0.8 years). A definitive cause of death was established in 38 cases. In 7 cases the cause of death could be identified on postmortem CT. In 7 cases imaging findings were clinically relevant but did not lead to a cause of death. In the remaining 40 cases postmortem CT did not add to the diagnostic workup. Conclusion Our study shows that in a group of children who unexpectedly died of an assumed natural cause of death and in whom a cause of death was found at autopsy, postmortem CT detected the cause of death in a minority of cases (12.9%). In the majority of cases (74.1%) postmortem CT did not add value in diagnosing the cause of death.

Pregnancy-Associated Deaths in Virginia Due to Homicides, Suicides, and Accidental Overdoses Compared With Natural Causes

This research is a case study of 309 pregnancy-associated deaths that occurred in Virginia from 1999-2005. Pregnancy-associated deaths due to homicide, suicide, or accidental overdose were compared with natural deaths. Violent deaths accounted for almost 30% of the cases. Homicides accounted for 13% of all the deaths in the sample, larger than any single natural cause of death. Homicide was the leading manner of death for Black women and was 4.5 times the rate of White decedents. Recommendations include expanding maternal death surveillance, committing to ending violence against women, and promoting universal screenings for domestic or interpersonal violence.