Ethical Challenges in Health Care Policy during COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Italy has proven to be one of the countries with the highest coronavirus-linked death rate. To reduce the impact of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the Italian Government decision-makers issued a series of law decrees that imposed measures limiting social contacts, stopped non-essential production activities, and restructured public health care in order to privilege assistance to patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Health care services were substantially limited including planned hospitalization and elective surgeries. These substantial measures were criticized due to their impact on individual rights including freedom and autonomy, but were justified by the awareness that hospitals would have been unable to cope with the surge of infected people who needed treatment for COVID-19. The imbalance between the need to guarantee ordinary care and to deal with the pandemic, in a context of limited health resources, raises ethical concerns as well as clinical management issues. The emergency scenario caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the lockdown phase, led the Government and health care decision-makers to prioritize community safety above the individuals' rights. This new community-centered approach to clinical care has created tension among the practitioners and exposed health workers to malpractice claims. Reducing the morbidity and mortality rates of the COVID-19 pandemic is the priority of every government, but the legitimate question remains whether the policy that supports this measure could be less harmful for the health care system

Parachuting fatality: A case report video-recorded

Parachuting accidents are very uncommon and mostly related to landing and incorrect procedures. In these cases, the cause of death is usually easily identified but the events leading up to death are usually a matter for investigation. We describe the case of a former military parachutist who died after civilian skydiving. A total body computed tomography scan, an external examination, and a complete medico-legal autopsy were performed. Furthermore, the fatality was filmed from two different observation points so the specific dynamic of the events and the injuries observed could be explained. This unusual case highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary forensic investigation

Stem cell therapy: Medico-legal perspectives in Italy

Ethical and juridical issues have recently been raised in Italy regarding experimental stem celltherapy (Stamina), which was authorized but then stopped after it was administered to a widerange of patients as a compassionate treatment for neurodegenerative diseases

“Open-book” pelvic fracture with soft tissue serious damage in a child

Open-book fractures of the pelvis are uncommon during childhood and require urgent treatment from the association with other abdominal, vascular or nervous injuries. The case discussed is an open-book fracture (type B1, Tile classification) associated with triradiate cartilage injury (type I, Salter–Harris classification) in an 11-year-old female. Surgical treatment was delayed for 2 months due to an associated extensive cutaneous lesion which required an adequate treatment. The delayed intervention did not affect the radiological and clinical healing of the fracture

Hip joint hydatidosis after prosthesis replacement

Summary Hydatidosis is a rare parasitic disease caused by the Echinococcus tapeworm, which only occasionally affects the musculoskeletal tissues. In this article we describe the case of a patient who underwent a total hip replacement procedure for a pathological fracture of the femur neck. At the next histological examination it was shown to be a consequence of secondary bone hydatidosis. This clinical case is exceptional in that the infection spread to the cotyloid and femoral prosthesis components and, in the following years, caused repeated episodes of joint dislocation