مجله پزشکی قانونی
سال بیست و هفتم شماره 4 (پیاپی 100، زمستان 1400)

One of the main concerns for policymakers in recent decades has been the declining population growth. To address this concern, several suggestions have been made. The Family and Youth Protection Act represents the latest volition of policymakers to alter the population growth trend. In addition to incentive mechanisms, the dominant view of this law has been the adoption of punitive measures which are also effective in population growth. Therefore, in addition to limiting sterilization and providing contraceptives, this act has also provided the guarantee of criminal executions. Furthermore, the law has altered the rules for issuing medical abortion licenses. A quick overview of Article 56 of the Family Protection and Youth Law indicates that the legislature has attempted to decrease the number of medical abortions by replacing the judicial approach with a medical approach. Manifestations of this approach can be observed in the process of processing medical abortion licenses, altering the structure of licensing applications, and intensifying criminal measures. This act has also made changes in the case of licensing rules. Despite the desired objective of policymakers, the authors maintain that medical abortion is more of a medical issue than a judicial one, and any alterations in this case should be performed meticulously and in consultation with experts. It is therefore suggested that the new provisions of this act be revised and the role of forensic medicine in issuing medical abortion licenses be highlighted.

When a disease overwhelms a person, it causes him to lose the abilities he normally had. The same inability also affects both the power of perception and defense against criminal charges, and if a sick person is suspected, like healthy people, he will not be able to defend and present evidence. In this case, neglecting his situation causes the principle of equality of arms, which is one of the main examples of equality of the parties in criminal proceedings and one of the pillars of a fair trial, to be violated. On the other hand, once a patient is convicted, a punishment similar to that of healthy people may aggravate his or her illness or delay his or her recovery. It is therefore necessary to have a differential trial between the accused and the sick criminals, to guarantee and respect their rights. Taking this into account, in this article we intend to examine the rights of defendants and sick criminals in the Iranian penal system. The results of the present study indicate that the Iranian legislature has referred to the rights of defendants and sick criminals in criminal proceedings, however, it is has not been comprehensive and has been sporadic.

Triticea may be mistaken for a fracture of the superior horn of the thyroid cartilage. This study aimed to determine the presence or absence of this cartilage in the larynx and its morphological variability so that forensic colleagues be more aware of diagnosing the possible fracture of the upper horn of the thyroid cartilage during the autopsy.

In the present study, 215 cadavers over 15 years of age that had their necks opened during the examination and autopsy were selected. The study took place in the dissection room of the Forensic Laboratory Diagnostic Center of Tehran province in 2016. The laryngeal area of ​​the cadavers was examined for the presence or absence of cartilage as well as its shape and location.

In the present study, 24.4% of men and 18.2% of women did not have this cartilage, however, it was observed in 18.1% of men and 21.6% of women on the right side, 15% of men, and 10.2% of women on the left side and 42.5% of men and 50% of women in both sides. The results showed that spheroidal and cylindrical cartilages are more common in men and oval cartilages are more common in women.

Similar to other studies, in this study, the triticeal cartilage was not observed in some of the cadavers; however, a significant percentage of the cadavers had this cartilage, which can be mistaken for a fracture of the superior horn of the thyroid cartilage if the larynx is not examined carefully, and especially if the cartilage is on one side that can lead to a serious error in determining the cause of death.

Spousal abuse is defined as any kind of violence by a spouse or sexual partner and today is one of the social problems observed in the form of physical violence, emotional psychological violence, and sexual violence. This study aimed to investigate the patterns and risk factors of spousal abuse in patients referred to forensic medicine in Tehran during the years 2020 to 2021.

This study was a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 322 people were included in the study over 2 years. Data collection had two sections: demographic variables and a short form of spousal abuse experience questionnaire. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS software version 24.

According to the questionnaire scores, the most common pattern of spousal abuse is verbal violence. Heavy physical violence has the lowest frequency pattern. In terms of ranking, the pattern of emotional violence, light physical violence, and sexual violence are after verbal violence. In the study of factors relevant  to spousal abuse, a significant relationship was found between the age of the victim's spouse, education level of women and their spouses, type of residence, number of children, and history of spousal abuse with the incidence of spousal abuse (P<0.05). There was, however, no difference between the age of women victims of spousal abuse, place of residence, and previous years of marriage with the incidence of spousal abuse (P>0.05).

Although in previous studies, emotional or psychological violence has been the most common, in the present study, verbal violence has been realized as the most common type of spousal abuse; therefore preventive policies and design of required interventions at different levels of society are relevant.

Communication problems are a central issue in communication approaches to the family. These approaches analyze the conflict between couples not in the form of two people, but as a dysfunctional relationship. This study aims to investigate the relationship between communication skills and domestic violence against women in Yasuj, Iran.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted by survey method. All women who were referred to the forensic medicine of Boyer-Ahmad city due to spousal abuse over six months in 2019 were examined in a total number. Mohsen Tabrizi Domestic Violence Questionnaire and Queen Dam Communication Skills Questionnaire were employed to conduct the research. Data were analyzed by SPSS software.

The present study indicated that that the average of domestic violence against women is high (3.53). The highest mean was for the verbal violence variable (3.83) and the lowest mean for sexual violence (2.56). The mean of the average communication skills is upward (3.43) and based on the analytical results, the relationship between communication skills and domestic violence is inversely related. There are four components of listening skills, emotional control, the ability to receive, and send messages, and a strong connection that significantly predict domestic violence.

Women's communication skills can be effective in reducing their spouse violence against them.

Aluminum phosphide is known in our country as Phostoxin tablet. Human contact with Phostoxin tablet can have severe and fatal consequences. The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the group of patients dying due to Phostoxin tablet poisoning with the group that survived despite taking Phostoxin tablet.

This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was performed on all patients poisoned with Phostoxin tablet in 2018 and 2019. The sampling method was a full census. According to the purpose of the study, T-test, Mann-Whitney, and Chi-square tests were employed in SPSS software version 24 and Graph pad prism version 8.

This study included 35 poisoned individuals with a mean age of  (16-82) years. The highest frequency was in the age group of 20-40 years (82.9%) and 21 women (60%) and 14 men (40%). There was a statistically significant relationship between mortality rate with drug use, length of hospital stay, blood pressure, number of breaths, level of consciousness, abdominal pain (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the mean level of ALT and AST liver enzymes and blood pressure in the two groups of dead and rescued were significantly different (P<0.05).

Phostoxin Tablet poisoning is a common cause of poisoning in Iran that has a high mortality rate. This is a serious health problem in communities where Phostoxin tablet is used. Consequently, you must go to the hospital immediately after contact with Phostoxin.

Direct observation of invisible injuries sexual assaults is accompanied by some difficulties. One of the most important solutions to solve these difficulties is using colors, such as toluidine blue, as a discrimination factor. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of toluidine blue coloring techniques to detect anogenital injuries. To this end, a comparison was made between the direct observation technique and the toluidine blue coloring technique.

This descriptive and prospective interventional research was applied to all cases claimed to be assaulted sexually in 2015. Subjects were selected employing the census procedure, and data were collected using a checklist containing demographic characteristics, level of detected injuries, and time elapsed after the abusive event. Data analysis was performed via Excel and SPSS software.

Out of the total number of cases studied in 2015, 40.8% were male and 59.2% were female. In addition, the age ranges of male and female subjects claimed to be assaulted sexually were 8-23 years (14.45±4.2) and 12-52 years (21.9±9.8), respectively. The color effect in the detection of the chafes injuries consequent from the sexual assault were helpful in 37% and 44.7% of vaginal and anal examinations, respectively.

This study showed that the use of toluidine blue in anal examinations is more effective than genital examinations in diagnosing injuries that exist in the form of abrasions and scratches.  The effectiveness of color was correlated with the place of rape, the body size of the rapist, and the time interval between the rape and the examination.

In crimes committed by a doctor, the identification of the responsible agent and, consequently enforcing criminal liability has always been associated with challenges and difficulties. In this regard, sometimes competent authorities issue contradictory opinions which are investigated in the present study.

In this retrospective cross-sectional analytical study, 116 cases were investigated in the Fars Forensic Medicine Commission from 2010 to 2019 in terms of responsibility type and establishment of a causal relationship. The method of data collection was through a questionnaire, including 15 questions, and after collecting information, they were analyzed employing SPSS21 software. .

In terms of responsibility type, 53 cases (46%) were directly responsible, and in 19 cases (16%) the causes or means was recognized as responsible. In the remaining 42 cases (38%) both causes were jointly responsible with the procurator.

Most negligence was of the compound type which was relevant to more than one factor. In order to investigate the cause of the crime and diagnose the guarantor, the forensic commission did not follow the basis of the unit.