Abstract:The New Penal Code (NPC) of Romania gave up on punishing minor offenders, in favor of educational measures. Thus, the minor following a final conviction, will not be subjected to the prohibitions, detentions or incapacity attributable to the penalties applicable to major offenders. Thus, the emphasis is moved from punishment, to prevention, re-education and social reinsertion. The New Penal Code delimits from the previous one, the institution of the educational measures depriving of liberty from that of non-custodial educational measures. Psychiatric forensic expertise of the minor plays a key role in the court decision, through its conclusions regarding the existence of discernment at the time of committing the act. In the case of determining the presence of discernment at the time of committing the act, the psychiatric forensic board will also make recommendations on the educational measure that should be instituted. In the recommendations made, the board considers both personality deficiencies and social etiology, dissociating the meaning of behavior from the social situation in which the subject of law is. Thus, the recommendations made by the board of psychiatric forensic expertise are the result of a thorough analysis of the minor's psychic state, the nature of the committed act, corroborated with the concrete circumstances of committing it, with the opportunity to appreciate critically the act because of the education received and with the influences of the environment. In addition, in recommending educational measures, the board also takes into consideration the family support that the minor benefits or not, essential support in his social reintegration.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity of toxic origin in the world. Its insidious and polymorphic symptomatology makes it difficult to diagnose. It occurs accidentally, because of non-supervised domestic fires, or in fire victims. In fire victims, in particular, the differential diagnosis between carbon monoxide gas poisoning, inhalation of other toxic products of combustion like cyanide, oxygen deprivation, thermal burns and shock due to burns as a cause of death is not an easy task. The authors examined 107 fire victims that were autopsied at the Forensic Medicine from Iasi, Romania, in the last 10 years (2007-2016). Most cases were males (69.16%), young (0-9 years) or older than 60 with a burned surface of 91-100% in 68.22% of cases. Blood samples from the cadavers were collected in all cases in order to analyse carboxyhaemoglobin concentration and haemolysis. Toxicological analysis revealed a carboxyhaemoglobin level of maximum 95% but the majority of cases (70.72%) had a concentration inferior to 50%. An inverse correlation was identified between carboxyhaemoglobin concentration and haemolysis, an indicator of heat dissociation. Our study proves that many fire victims may die because of carbon monoxide intoxication prior to the extent of burns at a lethal potential.

Cocaine is an alkaloid obtained from the leaves of the coca plant, Erythroxylum coca. Cocaine sulfate, a brown paste, is obtained from coca leaves and from this, cocaine hydrochloride, a white substance, soluble in water and with a bitter taste that may be in the form of white crystals or powder. From cocaine hydrochloride crack is obtained by heating, a more purified form and with greater power of intoxication and addiction. Once in the organism, cocaine behaves like an indirect sympathomimetic amine and produces a blockade of the presynaptic reuptake of dopamine, adrenaline, noradrenaline and serotonin, thus increasing their levels. At the cardiovascular level cocaine is responsible for malignant arrhythmias, sometimes responsible for sudden death. Other symptoms that can occur are aortic dissection, arterial hypertension and coronary vasoconstriction able to trigger an acute myocardial infarction. The authors present a case of sudden cardiac death due to cocaine intoxication in a young male without any cardiac risk factors. The autopsy, together with the results of the complementary tests, indicate that the most probable death mechanism has been a cardiogenic shock secondary to extensive myocardial necrosis due to cocaine intoxication.

The various insufficiencies or even diseases generated by the intoxication with the various substances, affect the quality of life -both of the intoxicated person and of those in the social environment in which he lives and works. The present article aims to analyse a series of perspectives regarding the role and importance of studying chemistry in the professional training of future doctors, especially residents in the field of forensic medicine.

Ethylene glycol intoxication is potentially fatal and associated with typical clinical, laboratory and histopathological findings. The authors present the case of a 57-year-old male with a history of chronic alcoholism and who accidentally ingested approximately 1 litter of antifreeze solution. The patient was discovered comatose in his house and addressed to the emergency department with a Glasgow coma score of 3, severe metabolic acidosis, acute renal failure, atrial fibrillation and liver dysfunction. Despite reanimation manoeuvres and haemodialysis for 2 h the patient deceased 5 h after hospital admission. Necropsy examination revealed a stomach with oedematous walls, mucosa erosions and signs of bleeding together with a disorganised, granular single kidney with unidentifiable corticomedullary border. Histopathological examination displayed typical findings in the kidney such as autolytic changes of the epithelium and abundant calcium oxalate crystals in the lumen of the proximal tubules. Ethylene glycol intoxication is frequent in our country and its metabolites glycoaldehyde, glycolic acid, glyoxylic acid and oxalic acid are responsible for the severe metabolic acidosis and formation of calcium oxalate crystals in various organs and leading to severe multiple organ dysfunction and death. Forensic pathologists should be aware of clinical and biological manifestations as well as of typical histopathological findings as ethylene glycol is commonly ingested accidentally or used in homicidal/autolytical attempts.