In recent days, almost all the media have been covering the recent fatal incident involving Vangelis Giakoumakis. In these reports, several non-specialists express their views on, among other things, the manner of this death and the instrument used. It is therefore particularly important, for the public to be properly informed, that some scientifically documented observations be put forward.
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As easy as it is to resort to clichés about death – it is inevitable, we will all end up underground eaten by worms, etc. – it is just as easy to create urban myths around it. Your dead grandfather had an erection, you know someone who knows someone who woke up just before burial, your grandmother made sounds on her deathbed, and so on. Which of these are true and which are not?
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A DNA paternity test investigates whether a man is the biological father of one or more children. The most common test involves the child and the alleged father. A sample from the mother is desirable but not necessary. In special cases, additional analyses or testing of additional individuals can further increase the validity of the test.
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“Doctor, how much can I drink without going over the limit? How many glasses before I can’t drive? How much will make me tipsy?” These are some of the questions most forensic pathologists are asked, especially during the holidays.
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Apparent death is a condition in which a person’s biological functions temporarily stop or slow down, giving the impression that they are dead. It is indeed possible for certain pathologies or violent causes to lead to such a condition.
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In the elections of the Hellenic Society of Forensic Medicine, forensic pathologist Mr Grigoris Leon, PhD of the University of Athens, was elected President.
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Medical errors in our country are estimated at around 6,000 a year, though of course not all of them reach the courts. On the one hand, the event is often concealed from the patient or attributed to a natural consequence of their illness; on the other, patients do not want to get caught up in legal battles, believing they will be up against the Goliath of the system. Still, according to a Eurobarometer survey, 70% of Greeks worry that they will suffer a medical error, while 13% say they have already suffered a medical error in a hospital. In recent years, however, complaints have been on the rise, mainly because of greater public awareness and knowledge of patients’ rights, but also because of a crucial change to the Code of Medical Ethics, which put an end to the notion that the doctor is the absolute god of the medical act: it is a doctor–patient partnership. In fact, alongside the street vendors, the well-known “negligence lawyers” now roam hospital corridors, looking for clients among the patients. It is no coincidence that most doctors today take out civil liability insurance in case of a medical error. Read more here
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Beating is one form of physical abuse. Although there are no official statistics on the phenomenon in Greece, a relatively recent study by KAT hospital produced two interesting conclusions. First, according to the data, 4% of the injury cases received by the hospital involved beatings. Second, hospital admission was required in very few cases (2.5%), as most victims return home after receiving first aid. Read more here
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Are suicides linked to the economic crisis? Every day, both news bulletins and current-affairs programmes report cases of suicide that are presented as a consequence of the economic crisis. However, from a scientific point of view, suicide is an extremely complex phenomenon influenced by various factors, such as psychiatric, environmental and genetic ones. In our country there are no studies that have investigated these factors, which should make us critical of any such correlations and exaggerations. Read more here
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A few days ago, Deputy Minister of Health Marios Salmas announced the evaluation of private diagnostic laboratories and private clinics, with the aim of certifying them according to the age of their technological equipment, their medical and nursing staff, their hotel infrastructure and reports of medical errors. This intention of the Ministry is, for our country, the official continuation of a different course in the field of medical errors compared with the past. Read more here
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