Medicolegal death investigations in the U.S. have become a critical part of crime investigations over the past several decades. additionally, the roles of medical examiners (MEs) and coroners have expanded beyond the field of criminal justice in recent years. despite the fact that these roles are becoming increasingly more important a systematic and comprehensive study of this complicated system is yet to be conducted. Since there is no national standard or federal system, medicolegal death investigations vary across states, districts, and counties in the U.S. In this paper, we attempted to classify the systems into three categories. We also examined the roles and work procedures that MEs and coroners commonly share across the country as well as the problems and challenges that the medicolegal death investigation system is facing today. In addition, we have also provided a brief summary of the Korean system in order to add a comparative perspective, since the Korean legal system differs substantially that of the U.S.
Americas ; Coroners and Medical Examiners ; Crime ; Criminal Law ; Humans

While forensic pathology has become a vital tool in solving crime over recent years, it remains a vague term to many criminal justice practitioners. Chronicling the development of autopsy and forensic pathology in the United States will introduce this modern field. An examination of forensic pathology will also explain how its role has evolved to accommodate legal and civil issues. The utility of forensic pathology extends well beyond the medical realm by affecting the core of the medicolegal investigative system in the United States.
Autopsy ; Coroners and Medical Examiners ; Crime ; Criminal Law ; Forensic Pathology ; Humans ; United States

According to the social development, women's participation of social work is increased, and it is argued that artificial abortion of fetus can be accepted freely and easily as the respect of the women's right of self-decision on reproduction. This is the conflicts of view in prolife and prochoice. In Korea, there is the strong forbidden clause of criminal law about abortion. But in reality, a lot of illegal abortion are performed despite of the permissible clause in the Mother and Child Health Law. So I reviewed and recommended the revision of Article 14 in the Mother and Child Health Law to the active direction. I am basically opposed to abortion for human dignity especially the right to life of fetus and the prevention of the mother's health from the complication of abortion procedure. The permissible period of abortion must be shortened from gestation 28 weeks to gestation 24 weeks. The reason of severe fetal abnormality need not to be inserted to the permissible clause to abortion, but it is desirable that the meaning of that reason should be included. The socioeconomic reason of the permissible clause to abortion could mean the permission of abortion. So I object to adding the socioeconomic reason for artificial abortion to the revised the Mother and Child Health Law. But if needed, it is necessary to prepare for the effective procedure on consultation before abortion. I agree to the revision of the penalty provision against illegal abortion for the purpose of protecting life and preventing the illegal abortion. It is rightful to prevent human life and keep the value, and in addition, we must concern to the prevention of embryos who have the potential to the individual in the future. So I think that it is necessary to prepare the ethical guidelines or the regulations for the protection of embryos.
Abortion, Criminal ; Child ; Child Health ; Criminal Law ; Embryonic Structures ; Fetus ; Humans ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Mothers ; Personhood ; Pregnancy ; Reproduction ; Social Change ; Social Control, Formal ; Social Work ; Value of Life ; Women's Rights

According to the social development, women's participation of social work is increased, and it is argued that artificial abortion of fetus can be accepted freely and easily as the respect of the women's right of self-decision on reproduction. This is the conflicts of view in prolife and prochoice. In Korea, there is the strong forbidden clause of criminal law about abortion. But in reality, a lot of illegal abortion are performed despite of the permissible clause in the Mother and Child Health Law. So I reviewed and recommended the revision of Article 14 in the Mother and Child Health Law to the active direction. I am basically opposed to abortion for human dignity especially the right to life of fetus and the prevention of the mother's health from the complication of abortion procedure. The permissible period of abortion must be shortened from gestation 28 weeks to gestation 24 weeks. The reason of severe fetal abnormality need not to be inserted to the permissible clause to abortion, but it is desirable that the meaning of that reason should be included. The socioeconomic reason of the permissible clause to abortion could mean the permission of abortion. So I object to adding the socioeconomic reason for artificial abortion to the revised the Mother and Child Health Law. But if needed, it is necessary to prepare for the effective procedure on consultation before abortion. I agree to the revision of the penalty provision against illegal abortion for the purpose of protecting life and preventing the illegal abortion. It is rightful to prevent human life and keep the value, and in addition, we must concern to the prevention of embryos who have the potential to the individual in the future. So I think that it is necessary to prepare the ethical guidelines or the regulations for the protection of embryos.
Abortion, Criminal ; Child ; Child Health ; Criminal Law ; Embryonic Structures ; Fetus ; Humans ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Mothers ; Personhood ; Pregnancy ; Reproduction ; Social Change ; Social Control, Formal ; Social Work ; Value of Life ; Women's Rights

Self-regulation has a long tradition in countries such as Germany. In healthcare, a professional level of quality is known as the standard of care, but the concept is not defined by law. In practice, this concept has developed into physician self-regulation. In addition, a normative judgment about the medical standard can be understood as a concept developed by precedent related to medical malpractice cases. The law functions reactively rather than proactively. However, clinical ethics has a wider scope within the legal field than simply the corrective function of medical liability. This study focuses on a legal approach to self-regulation, the normative concept of medical standards in legal criteria, and its requirement. Regarding civil responsibility, the paper reviews an assessment of autonomy in the determination of the medical standard. In comparison to the disciplinary system of Germany's criminal law, the offenses of doctors under Korean law is considerably below the international standards for self-regulation. In fact, discipline for malpractice is effectively regulated by the state. Therefore, when doctors take an ethical approach, it can help protect patients and at the same time raise a sense of professional responsibility. This plays an important role in the complementary relationship between medical ethics as a preventive function and the standard of care or practice standards as a part of self-regulation. In conclusion, self-regulation can have a much more effective and positive impact on relationships between the patient and the doctor and strengthen preventive measures for the patient's safety within medical regulation.
Criminal Law ; Delivery of Health Care ; Ethics, Clinical ; Ethics, Medical* ; Germany ; Humans ; Judgment ; Jurisprudence ; Liability, Legal ; Malpractice ; Self-Control* ; Standard of Care*

Recently, in our society, there have been a lot of talks about fetocide and artificial abortion. I suppose it would be natural in a way. Because the very problem of fetocide and artificial abortion has been always there in our society and various concerns about it still hover above our lives. Fetocide in the criminal law, by legal definition, means the artificial evacuation of growing fetus from mother's uterus or killing the fetus in the mother's uterus. Meanwhile, artificial termination in the mother and child health law, by legal definition, means artificial evacuation of growing fetus and gestational by-products through medical procedure within such a early period in fetal life unable to survive outside the mother's uterus. A couple of jurisprudential reasoning about fetocide and artificial abortion could be possibly constituted in accordance with the legal point of view. But, in the scene of medical practice of Obstetrics and Gynecology, there would be very little difference in terms of criminal charges. It is concluded that both occasions of any artificial abortion with no allowable reasons and any artificial abortion with allowable reasons committed in the period beyond 24 weeks of gestation are to be punished by the current criminal law.
Child ; Child Health ; Criminal Law ; Criminals ; Fees and Charges ; Fetus ; Gynecology ; Homicide ; Humans ; Jurisprudence ; Mothers ; Obstetrics ; Pregnancy ; Uterus

This paper tried to collect, classify and analyse the discourse about abortion in 1920~1930. In Korea, modern medical abortion operation started in 1920~30s. At that time abortion was prohibited by the Japanese Government-General of Korea, because the Japanese Government-General of Korea needed large population which was used for labor and exploitation. Hence, the Empire of Japan de-penalized Japanese criminal law related to birth control but Korean law was not revised between 1910~1945. Nevertheless, there were quite a few women who wanted abortion when they had children born in sin or they were too poor to raise their children, so they had abortion secretly. At that time the women generally had abortion through toxic drugs or foods and violence (dropping from a high place or beating their stomach). But high class women did it by medical operation. In 1920s, there was few Korean (modern) medical doctors who could operate for abortion, instead Japanese immigrant medical doctors did it--as the newspaper of that time showed(there were many pieces of news that Japanese doctor who helped abortion was arrested by the police). As time went by Korean doctors got their say about the technique and various knowledge of abortion in newspapers, magazines, and academic Journals; this was especially the case starting in 1930. It is worth noting that they were sometimes arrested for illegal abortion operations. Furthermore, from the late 1920s the insist that abortion should be permitted for women and poor people, appeared. This insist was affected by Japan, the Soviet Union and other countries which was generous with abortion.
Abortion, Criminal ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Child ; Contraception ; Criminal Law ; Diphtheria Toxoid ; Emigrants and Immigrants ; Female ; Haemophilus Vaccines ; Humans ; Hypogonadism ; Japan ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Mitochondrial Diseases ; Newspapers ; Ophthalmoplegia ; Periodicals as Topic ; USSR ; Vaccines, Conjugate ; Violence

Today, medical certificates are widely used in society; for example, for school enrollment and employment, as well as for insurance purposes, and military service. In addition, they serve an important judicial function. Criminal and violent acts such as murder frequently occur, and traffic and industrial accidents that cause injury and intrude upon a person's life are increasing; therefore, the courts and the organizations required to deal with such cases are heavily dependent on medical certificates. Recently, a television program called 'Madam's Outgo', that describes the stay of execution of the wife of a company CEO, became a subject of public debate. The trial of the professor at a famous medical school, who received criticism for his major role in making a stay of execution possible for the wife of the CEO, evokes the importance and social function of such medical certificates. Criminal laws and medical laws institutionalize the important social function of medical certificates and establish regulations designed to prevent the writing of false medical certificates. This paper minimizes the use of legal terminology, concentrating on Supreme Court precedents, so that the main translation problems associated with such legal regulations can be utilized as data of doctors and non-jurists, and focuses its discussion on issues that can be practically discussed. On the basis of a theory of analysis of criminal guilt associated with false medical certificates, this paper suggests that to be guilty of issuing of false medical certificates, the following elements are required to be proved: who (subject), what document (object), how it should be written to be classified as a false medical certificate (behavior), and what subjective facts should be perceived to be guilty of issuing of false medical certificates (intent), besides examining the medical requirements associated with writing medical certificates. It therefore appears necessary for the Korean Medical Association to henceforth systematically review its "Guidelines for Writing Medical Certificates," written in February 2003, from a legal perspective.
Accidents, Occupational ; Criminal Law ; Criminals ; Employment ; Guilt ; Homicide ; Humans ; Insurance ; Jurisprudence ; Military Personnel ; Schools, Medical ; Social Control, Formal ; Spouses ; Television ; Writing

The first and the longest criminal indictment case of Korean medico-legal battle, so called BORAMAE Hospital Incident, was finally on its end by Korean Supreme Court's decision on June 24, 2004, after 7 years long legal dispute via Seoul District Court and Seoul Superior Appeal Court's decision. Boramae Hospital case was the first Korean legal case of Withdrawing Life-sustaining treatment of mechanical respirator on 58 years old Extradural Hematoma victim who was on Respirator under Coma after multi-organ failure postoperatively(APACHE II score: 34-39). Two physicians who have involved patient's care and had helped to make discharge the Near-death patient to home after repeated demand of patient's wife, due to economic reason, were sentenced as homicidal crime. This review article will discuss the following items with the review of US cases, Quinlan(1976), Nancy Cruzan(1990), Barber (1983), Helen Wanglie(1990), Baby K (1994) and Baby L cases, along with Official Statement of ATS and other Academic dignitaries of US and World.: [1] Details of Boramae Hospital incident, medical facts description and legal language of homicidal crime sentence. [2] The medical dispute about the legal misinterpretation of patient's clinical status, regarding the severity of the victim with multi-organs failure on Respirator under coma with least chance of recovery, less than 10% probability. [3] Case study of US, of similar situation. [4] Introduction of ATS official Statement on Withdrawing/ Withholding Life sustaining treatment. [5] Patient Autonomy as basic principle. [6] The procedural formality in Medical practise for keeping the legitimacy. [7] The definition of Medical Futility and its dispute. [8] Dying in Dignity and PAS(Physician Assisted Suicide)/and/or Euthanasia [9] The Korean version of "Dying in Dignity", based on the Supreme Court's decision of Boramae Hospital incident (2004.6.24.) [10] Summary and Author's Note for future prospects.
Bioethics ; Coma ; Crime ; Criminal Law ; Criminals ; Dissent and Disputes ; Euthanasia ; Hematoma ; Humans ; Illegitimacy ; Medical Futility ; Middle Aged ; Patient Rights ; Seoul ; Spouses ; Ventilators, Mechanical*

PURPOSE: This study was to examine occupational therapy (OT) students' attitudes toward rehabilitating inmates and validate an instrument used to measure their attitudes. METHODS: OT students (n=128) from one university in Alabama, United States, completed an online survey exploring their attitudes toward rehabilitating inmates, which was assessed using the Rehabilitation Orientation Scale (ROS), a 7-point scale. Dimensional structure, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and relations to other variables of the ROS was evaluated using factor analyses, Cronbach's alpha, known-groups method, and univariable correlations, respectively. RESULTS: Unidimensionality of the ROS was confirmed with an alpha coefficient of 0.90. The mean ROS score of the respondents was 5.1; a score toward 7 indicated a more supportive attitude. About 60% of the respondents reported supportive attitudes (i.e., an ROS score ≥5). Respondents' ROS scores were significantly higher than those of the public and criminal justice professionals. Female students reported a more supportive attitude than males. Multiple regression analysis indicated that respondents' consideration of working in prison settings after graduation and their perception that OT has a role in prison settings were significantly associated with support for rehabilitating inmates, after controlling for gender and an acquaintance with someone who has been incarcerated. CONCLUSION: Results indicated that the ROS demonstrated adequate psychometric properties as it applied to this population. The majority of respondents reported supportive attitudes toward rehabilitating inmates. Consideration of working in prison settings after graduation and the perception that OT has a role in prison settings were 2 independent factors associated with respondents' attitudes toward rehabilitating inmates.
Alabama ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Criminal Law ; Criminals ; Female ; Health Occupations ; Humans ; Male ; Methods ; Occupational Therapy ; Prisons ; Psychometrics ; Rehabilitation ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; United States