Physical, emotional and financial abuse of elders were reported in our study population. A limitation of this study was that it studied elders who sought treatment at a tertiary care hospital. Community studies will be needed to establish the true prevalence of elder abuse.

In Sri Lanka railway related deaths are reported throughout the year. Most accidental deaths occur due to negligent behaviour of pedestrians and drivers. Fatal train impacts cause extensive visceral and musculoskeletal injuries due to the nature of the object as well as the amount of force transmitted during impact. A study of this nature would help ascertain demographic details of victims, characteristics of the incident of fatal train crashes and recognize the injury profile. An autopsy based retrospective study was done using postmortem reports of 10 years. Seventy autopsy reports from Colombo North Teaching Hospital between July 2006 and July 2016 were analyzed. Data regarding demographic details of victim and incident, external and internal injury distribution, cause and manner of death as determined at autopsy were extracted. Majority of victims were males between 20-39 years (43.7%, n=32) of age and were married (64.3%, n=45). Most victims of accidents were trespassers 68.8% (n=33). 68.6% (n= 48) and 31.4% (n=22) respectively were due to accidents and suicide. The highest number of fatalities 64.3% (n=45) were observed between 2 pm to 10 pm. The number of external injuries were more in accidents than suicides. The most common cause of death was multiple injuries. Majority of the deaths were accidental. Transections of neck, chest and traumatic amputations of extremities were common in suicides than accidents.

ABSTRACThe specific objective of the study is to do a quantitative analysis of forensically relevant clinical cases examined at North Colombo Teaching Hospital with a view of identifying lapses in the medico-legal management and suggest recommendations to improve the system. The data was collected by analyzing the completed Medico-legal Examination Forms (MLEF) and personal notes made by the examining doctor attached to Department of Forensic Medicine at the North Colombo Teaching Hospital. The study revealed that the majority of the victims were male (73.3%) and belong to the age group of 19-59 years (84%). The victims who were examined had sustained injuries mainly due to assaults and accidents. (71%) Wife battery amounted to 5.9% of the cases. A sound medico-legal service is important for the existence of a good criminal justice system. MLEF is an important tool to gather vital information. A modified MLEF, Forensic Nurse, Basic infrastructure facilities for all medico-legal centres with necessary equipment, statistics and costing of injured patients and prevention programmes to minimize accidents and violence are some of the recommendations from the authors.

Facial injuries play a significant role when it comes to medico-legal interpretation, category of hurt, cause of death and for compensation purposes. Road traffic accidents had been identified as a major contributor towards facial injuries. The main objectives were to identify the different facial injuries such as abrasions, contusions, lacerations and fractures, injury pattern, the distribution and to correlate the facial injuries with vulnerable road users. A pre-prepared questionnaire was used to extract information from the autopsy reports of road traffic accidents involving 59 victims covering a period from 2005 to 2014. Majority of the victims were males (79.7%) and belonging to the age group of 21-30 (22%) and 41-50 (22%). The vulnerable road users were mostly pedestrians (39%), followed by motorcycle riders (28.8%). Only few (6.8%) of the victims had teeth injuries. Most of the victims had injuries on the right forehead (44%) and right periorbital area (37.3%). The commonest type of facial injuries were abrasions which were 44 (grazed abrasions 30.5% and other types of abrasions 44.1%) followed by lacerations 38 (64.4%). The most common injuries on the right forehead were abrasions (20.3%) and lacerations (16.9%) while on the right peri-orbital area it was contusions (18.6 %). Majority of the victims were pedestrians and motor cycle riders. Most of the injuries were observed on the right forehead and right peri-orbital region and the commonest facial injury type was abrasions. A specific type of injury pattern was not identified to retrospectively suggest the involvement of a pedestrian or others.

In this modern era practicing medical ethics has become more demanding. The advancement of science with new technologies, new therapies and complex clinical trials has resulted in a situation where the current principles and concepts of medical ethics alone are not adequate in situations. Therefore, teaching ethics to medical students in a broader way as medical bioethics would cover the implications that result following treatment or research and is more beneficial for patients or participants. This paper illustrates the need of transforming the teaching of medical ethics to medical bio ethics as a way forward.

No abstract

No abstract

Introduction : Expert medical evidence is widely used in sexual abuse cases, but its contribution to the progress of legal cases is unclear. Poor understanding of the remarks given by the medical officers in a Medico Legal Examination Form (MLEF) in alleged sexual abuse cases by the police officers may affect effective administration of justice. Objective: This study is mainly aimed at assessing the degree of understanding by the police officers' when reading three commonly expressed medico-legal remarks in cases of alleged sexual abuse. Secondly, to identify the areas of poor understanding, for which interventions need to be carried out. Study Design: Cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among 64 police officers, in the rank of police constables and sergeants from western province, who are attending to routine work of a police station (criminal investigations, children and women's desk and traffic unit). Data collection was done by self administered questionnaire after a briefing regarding the study and instructions on how to fill the questionnaire. Results: 72% of the officers believed that they understood the statements written on Medico-Legal Examination Form (MLEF) when it is in native language while only 32% believed so for statements in English. However the analysis of the correct responses revealed that only 28.9% of officers understood the exact meaning in native language while it was 10.4% for English. The understanding about the statement on absence of medical evidence to confirm or exclude the allegation when given in Sinhala was 26.6% while it was 10.9% in English. The statement on evidence of vaginal penetration has been correctly understood by 20.3% in Sinhala while it is 7.8 % in English. Conclusion: Statements made in native language are approximately three times better understood than the ones made in English. However, overall understanding of the remarks made by doctors was very poor. It is high time we take necessary actions to intervene if our goal is effective administration of justice.