Emedinews: Insights on Medicolegal issues - Hair and fiber, found on human body or at the scene of crime, are commonly used in investigation in cases of assaults, sexual offences, bestiality

·         Hair comprises mainly two parts: Shaft is the part above the skin; root lies below the skin. The root has a bulb as a base, embedded in hair follicle. The cuticular scales cover the shaft. The shaft has two layers: outer one is called cortex, and the inner one medulla.

·         The hair pigment is present in the cortex. The cuticular scales present around the cortex are non-nucleated cells originating from follicle, and are keratinized. The medulla consists of cylinder-like cells produced by matrix cells. The ratio of medullar diameter to that of the shaft is known as medullar index.

·         The medullary column is present in the centre of the cortex. The pigment granules present in the cortex consist of melanin. It is made up of several units of monomer, consisting of indole and quinone. It contains amino acids like dihydroxy phenylalanine and tyrosine.

·         The medullar cells contain large amount of glycogen.

·         Macroscopic and microscopic examination of hair is done in the Forensic Laboratory, to distinguish it from fiber and to ascertain whether the hair is of a human hair or an animal and to fix the individual identity.

(Contributed by Dr Sudhir Gupta)

Insight into medicolegal issues - a conference

 A first ever National Conference on “Insight on Medicolegal Issues” will be organized in New Delhi at Chinmaya Mission Auditorium, Lodhi Road on Sunday, 10th July, 2011. Over 300 doctors from across the country will be participating. The faculty will include eminent doctors and advocates. Senior advocates who will be participating in the conference are Mr. Mukul Rohtagi, Mr. Ajay Agrawal, Ms Priya, Ms Meenakshi Lekhi, Mr. M C Gupta, Mr. Sidhartha Luthra and Ms Indu Malhotra. The Medical Faculty will include Dr. Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, Dr. H S Risam, Dr. Naveen Dang, Dr. Neelam Mohan, Dr. N P Singh, Dr. Sanjiv Malik, Dr. Anupam Sibal, Dr. Ajay Gambhir, Dr. Vijay Aggarwal, Dr. Girish Tyagi and Dr. Sudhir Gupta and others. 

 The conference will be inaugurated by Justice A K Sikri, Hon’ble Judge Delhi High Court. Justice Vipin Sanghi, Hon’ble Judge Delhi High Court will be the Guest of Honour. Justice Sikri will also deliver a keynote address on the subject.

 Among the important subjects to be discussed include: Ethical issues concerning clinical trials, ethical issues for organ transplantation, Understanding court procedures, Medical negligence versus medical accidents, Doctor-Pharma relationship, handling medicolegal cases etc.

 Addressing a press conference, Padma Shri & Dr. B.C. Roy National Awardee Dr. KK Aggarwal, President Heart Care Foundation of India, said that to err is human. The Supreme Court of India has also observed that ‘Mere accident is not evidence of negligence’. It has also clarified that difference of opinion or error of judgment cannot be termed negligence and likewise, adverse reactions and medical accidents cannot be put under medical negligence. Negligence cannot be attributed to a doctor as long as he performs his duties with reasonable skill and competence.

 But, there are certain errors which are preventable but still occur. An example is wrong surgical site surgery, a sentinel event, and involves operation of a wrong site, wrong side, wrong patient and wrong surgery. In one of the recent studies of 8 hospitals, 44 such events were reported every week in the US alone. These events come under ‘never events’. The number will be much larger in our country. Never events are medical negligence unless proved otherwise, he further added.

 A doctor must always maintain the highest standards of professional conduct. He should be careful that he does not violate any rule laid down under the Code of Ethics that define uniform standards of practice.  He also has several legal responsibilities and is often required to deal with issues like consent, insanity, consent, fitness to stand trial etc. So, he needs to be aware of the law.

Dr. Girish Tyagi, Registrar Delhi Medical Council said that every effort is being made by Delhi Medical Council to reduce the gap between patients and doctors.

 Dr Vinod Khetarpal, President Delhi Medical Association said that no doctor should practice without an indemnity insurance as any medical error will require a compensation to be paid to the patient.

 The conference proceedings will be converted in the form of white paper and will be sent to Medical Council of India, Delhi Medical Council and the Government for implementation.