Ageing of the global population represents a challenge for national healthcare systems and healthcare professionals, including medico-legal experts, who assess personal damage in an increasing number of older people. Personal damage evaluation in older people is complex, and the scarcity of evidence is hindering the development of formal guidelines on the subject. The main objectives of the first multidisciplinary Consensus Conference on Medico-Legal Assessment of Personal Damage in Older People were to increase knowledge on the subject and establish standard procedures in this field. The conference, organized according to the guidelines issued by the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), was held in Bologna (Italy) on June 8, 2019 with the support of national scientific societies, professional organizations, and stakeholders. The Scientific Technical Committee prepared 16 questions on 4 thematic areas: (1) differences in injury outcomes in older people compared to younger people and their relevance in personal damage assessment; (2) pre-existing status reconstruction and evaluation; (3) medico-legal examination procedures; (4) multidimensional assessment and scales. The Scientific Secretariat reviewed relevant literature and documents, rated their quality, and summarized evidence. During conference plenary public sessions, 4 pairs of experts reported on each thematic area. After the last session, a multidisciplinary Jury Panel (15 members) drafted the consensus statements. The present report describes Conference methods and results, including a summary of evidence supporting each statement, and areas requiring further investigation. The methodological recommendations issued during the Conference may be useful in several contexts of damage assessment, or to other medico-legal evaluation fields.

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A gap was observed between the number of crimes reported to the judicial authorities (tip of the iceberg) and the estimated prevalence of the phenomenon in the literature. There is a need both to create a network of protection for the elderly involving medical and judicial specialists and to train healthcare professionals to better recognise and report cases of maltreatment.

The whole population is susceptible to infection but elderly people with previous diseases are at greater risk. All these epidemiological data show that older age represents an important risk factor for infection and especially for mortality. In recent weeks an increase in mortality among the elderly has been observed in many Italian residential care homes. In these accommodations a worrying spread of COVID-19 cases has been ascertained. According to the ISS report, 7.4% of the total deaths in care homes for elderly involved patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and 33.8% involved patients with flu-like symptoms. Herein, we discuss the dangerous spread of COVID-19 in residential care homes for elderly. In addition, we present a case of an elderly person admitted to a residential care home, whose COVID-19 diagnosis was performed only after death.

The present technological transformation calls for a new kind of vet: he has to accomplish his own institutional tasks bearing in mind the definition of a "good practice" code and also performing educational and informative tasks in zootechnology in order to ensure the animal well-being. Therefore, his contribution can be relevant in developing and interpreting laws related to the protection of animal welfare and further considerations on the ethical and deontological thought, concerning the technological use of animals. The vet's role is also fundamental in the following areas: further study of bioethical issues related to zootechnology and the professional growth of whoever is engaged, in different ways, in productive activities and research on animals.

The worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the pandemic has resulted in a serious global crisis in the health, social and economic spheres. After an initial period of enthusiasm related to the efficacy of vaccines, in many European countries, a growing distrust in the population has matured, due to the reporting of severe adverse effects. Throughout the world, some cases of adverse events after the administration of the vaccine have been reported. In this communication, we want to discuss all the medico-legal aspects related to the global vaccination companion in terms of medical professional responsibility, informed consent and vaccination obligation, with particular attention to the Italian situation. Health professionals are tasked with promoting confidence in vaccination for the general population. Complete and detailed information and reliance on scientific research is essential to understand the great importance of the vaccination campaign. From a criminal point of view, we must avoid blaming health professionals in the case of side effects. At the same time, we must protect the population, ensuring compliance with the indications, guidelines, and an adequate method of administration. On the other hand, from a civil law perspective, it is correct to ensure full protection of those rare cases in which the administration of the vaccine is related to adverse events. Without a broad and global vaccination campaign, it will be impossible to overcome COVID-19.

The term “Lotus Birth” identifies the practice of not cutting the umbilical cord and of leaving the placenta attached to the newborn after its expulsion until it detaches spontaneously, which generally occurs 3–10 days after birth. The first reported cases of Lotus Birth date back to 2004 in Australia.Supporters of such a procedure claim that the newborn is better perfused, endowed with a more robust immune system and “less stressed”.However, it should be pointed out that histopathological study of the placenta is increasingly being requested in order to investigate problems of an infective nature or dysmaturity affecting the foetus, and situations of risk affecting the mother. Moreover, from the legal standpoint, there is no uniform position on the question of whether the placenta belongs to the mother or to the newborn. Lastly, a proper conservation of the embryonic adnexa is very difficult and includes problems of a hygiene/health, infectivological and medico-legal nature.The authors analyzed all these aspect in the Italian legislative framework, reaching the conclusion that Lotus Birth is inadvisable from both the scientific and logical/rational points of view.

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