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In a few situations, the consequences secondary to a carcinological pathology require an assessment of damages for compensatory purposes. This is particularly the case when liable parties have been found to be at cause of the disease: occupational pathologies in the case of inexcusable employer's fault, exposure to a radioactive risk, for example in the context of full compensation for damages suffered by the victims of nuclear experiments performed by France, or lastly, in the after-effects of late diagnosis. This article does not discuss the imputability of cancer pathologies to an event, but it proposes an adaptation of methods for assessing damages, in an attempt to provide full compensation for damages., (Copyright © 2021 Société Française du Cancer. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Forensic units have a central role to play in healthy public policy, by the collection and management of violence. This study aims to describe the characteristics of physical Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against men reported over 10 years in the forensic unit of Toulouse (France) and to compare them with the characteristics of physical IPV against women over the same period. All the medico-legal reports of male victims over 18 years of age between 2005 and 2014 were analyzed. Female victims over 18 years of age in the same period were randomized by year in order to study a similar number of individuals. We analyzed 712 forensic reports of male victims and 865 forensic reports of female victims. Repeated consultation concerned 20.5% of women and 7.5% of men (p < 0.001). More male victims than female victims consulted in an emergency unit (p < 0.001). The most frequently alleged manner of attack was punching for male victims (34.1%) and grabbing or pushing for female victims (86.7%). There were fewer wounds and vascular or visceral injuries for female victims (p = 0.001). There were more reports of no injury for female victims (p < 0.001) and fewer reports with at least two injuries (p = 0.002). The most common injuries were superficial skin injuries (abrasion, bruise or hematoma) for both groups. On the one hand, physical IPV against women was more frequent than against men, while physical IPV against men seemed to be more severe than against women. The distribution of alleged manners of attack and injuries were consistent with previous studies. However, the mechanisms of the origin of the process of violence are difficult to apprehend in such a dyadic context. The findings should be interpreted with caution, but they provide original and substantial material, which can be useful in recognizing victims and in developing preventive strategies. With this aim, forensic units have a central role to play in the collection of violence and in individualized management. In France, this subject has not been extensively studied and future research is needed to emphasize the characteristics of IPV in order to better understand the phenomenon and to create and assess public policies in order to prevent it., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Through a comprehensive review of the literature on sexual assault, the authors propose to clarify the different stages of the exam and help the practitioner to the forensic interpretation of lesions. The authors describe the basic principles that make consensus in how to interview victims in order to increase the reliability of the information collected. The various medical data that must be collected allowing to guide diagnosis (urogenital symptoms, sexual behaviour disorder) or facilitate the interpretation of lesions (age of puberty, use of tampons…) are specified as well as the different positions of examination and their association to other complementary techniques (Foley catheter, colposcopy, toluidine blue). The authors present a simple decision tree that can help the practitioner to interpret the laceration of the hymen. They detail the description and forensic interpretation of all genital lesions that may be encountered as a result of sexual assault, and the pitfalls to avoid. Finally, two main problems in the interpretation of lesions are described, the absence of injury after penetration and the accidental genital lesions., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Candida albicans spondylodiscitis is a fungal infection of the spine which is still unusual in spite of the increasing frequency of predisposing factors. A 22-year-old man received an abdominal stab wound during a physical assault. Initial medical care included surgery, prolonged use of indwelling vascular catheters with administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics, and hospitalization in intensive care. Two months after the event, the victim experienced back pain in the right lumbar region and septic spondylodiscitis secondary to C. albicans was diagnosed three weeks later. This case is noteworthy because of its clinical forensic context. In France, the public prosecutor orders a medico-legal assessment after an assault for all living victims in order to establish a causal relationship between the assault and its complications. In our case, the patient presented numerous risk factors for candidemia and the forensic specialist reasonably accepted that the causal relationship was certain but indirect. We have only found one published case of spondylodiscitis after an abdominal penetrating injury and the pathogenic agent was not mentioned. We have found no case reported in a forensic context. This unusual observation shows that it may be genuinely difficult to prove the causal relationship between an abdominal penetrating injury and an unusual infectious complication such as fungal spondylodiscitis., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.)