Medicine, science, and the law
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Two motor cyclists were involved in a head-on collision. One of the motor cyclists sustained a stab wound to the chest by a portion of long bone derived from the other motor cyclist. This case is reported because of its unusual nature.
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All firearms fatalities in East Denmark during the period 1984-1987 were examined. There were 276 cases or 3.0 per 100,000 living inhabitants. The majority were suicides (80%) and by far the majority of these were men. ⋯ No specific decrease could be demonstrated in the number of fatal cases with shot guns, but possibly a general preventive effect. When compared with previous Danish investigations an increase in the total number of suicides with firearms was found in the period examined, whereas an increase was found in the total as well as the relative number of homicides. More information and further endeavours to limit the number of firearms in the population is recommended.
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Stun guns, shock batons and cattle prods are electric shock devices which can be used as weapons against the human body. Stun guns cause temporary incapacitation of the body whereas the other devices do not. ⋯ The outputs from the stun guns and the non-incapacitating devices have characteristic waveform shapes and magnitudes: significantly, the peak current from the stun guns is two orders of magnitude greater than from the other devices. To understand the possible hazardous effects of these outputs on the human body, the output parameters were related to the available information on the effects of electric currents on the human body and on the electro-immobilization of farm animals.