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Introduction: Areas with higher agricultural production have higher rates of abortion and malformation, probable related to pesticides., Objective: To compare the rates of early abortion and fetal malformation in agricultural and nonagricultural areas., Method: A survey was carried out on fetal deaths in children weighing less than 500 g or gestational age less than 22 weeks and fetal malformations in live births., Results: From 1996 to 2018, there was an increase in the rates of abortion and, albeit to a lesser extent, malformation. The areas of greater agricultural production have higher rates of fetal mortality and malformation than the others., Conclusions: The study suggests that areas with higher use of pesticides have higher rates of abortion and fetal malformations than the others, requiring further observational studies, reducing confounders inherent to the ecological study., Competing Interests: de Fátima Alvim Braga, Cozendey-Silva, dos Santos Martins, da Silva Santos, Silva, Assumpção, and Waissmann have no relationships/conditions/circumstances that present potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

Objective To collect criminal justice data involving medical professionals in the São Paulo State Court of Appeals and to establish the number of criminal proceedings involving said professionals, the content of the accusations and the conviction rate per specialty. Methods A keyword search was carried out in the State Appellate Court case law website with the term "medical error" for decisions rendered from January 1st, 2011 to December 31st, 2016, and the subject "criminal law" was selected. Results A total of 34 cases met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Lower court's convictions accounted to 73.5% of the cases, with a slight tendency towards increase over the years. The number of cases per medical specialty was ten cases of clinical emergency, eight of obstetrics, seven of surgery, three of pediatrics (one case was related to pediatrics and obstetrics), two of orthopedic surgery, two of clinical director, one anesthesiologist and one nonemergency internal medicine physician. Among these cases, 6 were related to bodily injury, 26 to homicide and 2 criminal contempt. Conclusion The physicians most exposed to medical error were from surgical specialties, probably due to the higher rate of complications associated with the procedures, and emergency physicians, professionals who need greater qualification.