Vol.19 Issue No.2 (2023): Journal of Indian Society of Toxicology

A case of drug facilitated sexual assault in a child – approach and challenges

Drug-facilitated chronic sexual assault on children presents significant challenges for medico-legal practitioners, the police, and all other stakeholders in the criminal justice system. The objective of this case report is to illustrate the difficulties encountered in cases of drug-facilitated child assault. In this particular case, a 12-year-old girl tragically lost her life after being sexually assaulted multiple times following the administration of a drink laced with drugs. We highlight the challenges faced in determining the cause of death in this case owing to negative toxicological findings. To be an expert in opining on matters of child abuse, thorough training in the fields of paediatric and adult gynaecology is necessary for forensic medicine practitioners. There is also a strong need to create awareness among the health fraternity about the need to be vigilant about child abuse and follow an initiative-taking approach in reporting the incidents of such abuse. By fostering professional discourse and knowledge exchange, we can enhance the quality of our work and ensure successful prosecution in cases of child sexual abuse.

A five years study on poisoning cases brought for medico-legal autopsy in a tertiary care centre of northeast of India

Aims and Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the prevalence, patterns and trends of poisoning cases brought for medico-legal autopsy in a tertiary care centre in Northeast India over a five-year period.

Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective hospital record-based study. The study population includes all cases of suspected poisoning brought for medico-legal autopsy to the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Assam Medical College & Hospital, Dibrugarh, Assam, India during the study period from 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2020.

Results: A total of 355 positive cases of deaths due to poisoning were studied during the study period of 5 years from 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2020. In the present study, Organophosphate was found to be the most common poison used with 162 cases (45.63%) followed by drug abuse/over dose.

Conclusion: The findings of the study emphasize the crucial role of forensic investigations in identifying the causes of poisoning related deaths, as well as the importance of timely and accurate medical intervention in such cases. Further research is required to better understand the specific factors contributing to the high incidence of poisoning deaths in the region & develop effective interventions to reduce this burden.

An interesting case of organophosphate induced delayed polyneuropathy

Sree Priyankha R.S.* Vaidyanathan R.** S.P. Adarsh***

Organophosphate induced delayed polyneuropathy is a rare clinical manifestation resulting from exposure to certain organophosphorus esters.[1] It is characterized by degeneration of both peripheral and central nervous system axons occurring 1-4 weeks after a single or short term exposure.[2] This syndrome is due to inhibition of neuropathy target esterase (NTE). It usually starts with cramping muscle pain in both lower limbs, distal numbness and paresthesia, followed by progressive weakness which may become irreversible.[2] Decreased or absent deep tendon reflexes both the lower limb is usually seen, rarely even upper limbs may be affected.[3] We report a rare case of organophosphorus induced delayed polyneuropathy overlapping with intermediate syndrome with possible features of non compressive myelopathy.

The neglected aspects of pesticides management bill 2020: A review

Kattamreddy Ananth Rupesh* Kattamreddy Divya Chaitanya Reddy LLM**

The Pesticides Management Bill 2020 aims to address the issues of outdated and unscientific registration criteria, lack of stricter penalties for spurious pesticides and deceptive advertisements, inadequate regulation of pesticide pricing, and proper disposal of agrochemical substances in an environmentally-friendly manner. The proposed legislation is expected to cater to the multidimensional needs of today's agriculture sector and provide better protection to farmers from fraudulent practices in the pesticide market. The bill also proposes to incorporate measures to regulate and standardize treatment protocols for acute toxicity, particularly in cases of suicidal poisoning in the Indian rural population. It is also essential to ensure that pesticide manufacturers take up their corporate social responsibility by establishing poison control centres and antidote depots. These measures are crucial to ensure the safety and well-being of farmers, pesticide applicators, the environment, and the general public.

Dilemma in unknown bites: a case of scorpion sting with multiple cerebral and cerebellar infarcts

Narendra S.S.* Dileep C.N.** Aravind P.K.***

Scorpion stings are one of the common emergencies that can present to emergency room in tropical regions like India. Even though many of the stings only produce severe local pain and parasthesia, severe systemic envenomation can occur at times which can be life threatening. Since most of the patients are from the rural areas early diagnosis of unknown bites are usually difficult due lack of medical expertise in many areas. Here we report a case of scorpion sting with severe systematic envenomation who presented as an unknown bite with suspected neurotoxic snake bite who later developed ischemic infarcts in thalamus, frontoparietal lobes and cerebellum associated with microbleeds. Cerebrovascular complications like ischemic infarcts and intracranial hemorrhage secondary to scorpion sting are rare. Infarcts can occur due to various mechanisms like cerebral vasospasm, embolic secondary to myocarditis, disseminated intravascular coagulation etc.