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ACFEI Articles American College of Forensic Examiners Announces Five New Continuing Education Articles in the Spring 2005 Forensic Examiner Article Publisher: Robert O'Block - Date: 2/11/05 The American College of Forensic Examiners International (ACFEI) is pleased to announce that five new continuing education articles will be included in the Spring 2005 issue of its peer-reviewed journal, The Forensic Examiner®. These articles cover a wide range of topics and specialties represented by the varied professional membership of ACFEI. Abstracts of each article are included below, along with links to the full-text versions. A Review of FDR’s Mental Capacity During His Fourth Term and Its Impact on History - By Alen J. Salerian, MD, DABFM, and Gregory H. Salerian, BS (click here for the pdf version of this article) This article reviews Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s (FDR’s) medical problems during the crucial days of World War II. Based on this review, it appears that FDR was unfit for the presidency during his fourth term. FDR’s physicians failed to communicate honestly with the public, which impacted the lives of millions of people around the world. The mental health of a U.S. president should be a priority due to the president’s potentially catastrophic power. There are new remedies to deal with this issue today. All U.S. presidents should have annual exams to evaluate their mental fitness. These exams should be focused on executive function, mood, thought content, and reality-based logical thinking. When completed, they could lead to substantial public benefit. To assure objectivity, the panel of physicians completing the evaluation should be independent and not in any way affiliated with the U.S. government. All healthcare professionals must not only respect the privacy of the president, but also consider the welfare of their fellow citizens. The president’s annual mental evaluation results should be shared with the public. Pseudologia fantastica (PF) refers to the fabrication of events as a defense against the reexperiencing of psychological trauma. This defense involves primary process thinking and may readily be detected as lying by forensic clinicians. Lying in a compensation and pension (C&P) interview places a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) claimant at risk for misdiagnosis as a malingerer. A diagnostic error of this nature is doubly unfortunate since it deprives the claimant of both compensation and the treatment that he or she requires. This research was undertaken with the purpose of reducing the frequency of such diagnostic errors by developing criteria that differentiate PF from malingering. To this end, 144 C&P examinations for PTSD were reviewed to identify cases of malingering and of PTSD with PF. This review detected 11 cases of malingering and 2 cases of PTSD with PF. Both PF cases are presented, and 1 case of malingering is provided for comparison. The profile of the malingerer was marked by poorly substantiated trauma, exaggerated and internally inconsistent combat narratives, and an invalid psychological test profile. These characteristics were present in the profiles of all 11 malingerers. In comparison, the PF cases were marked by exaggerated combat narratives, well-documented combat exposure, and valid psychological test profiles. These profile characteristics are proposed as criteria for differentiating PTSD claimants with PF from those who are malingering. Prison Gangs: Descriptions and Selected Interventions The number of gangs and gang members is increasing just as rapidly in prisons as on the streets. This article provides an overview of the literature, gives basic statistics on incidence, describes the process an inmate generally follows to become a prison gang member, and reviews selected interventions that have been attempted. We conclude that interventions need to be flexible enough for use under the unique circumstances of each prison and designed with specified and measurable goals so that progress may be effectively measured. We also suggest that communication among prison systems on such programs is important to the development of effective interventions that may be adapted to individual circumstances. Financial Statement Fraud: A New Ballgame Sarbanes-Oxley, SAS 99, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) have not removed pressures on chief financial officers to manipulate accounting statements. PCAOB recommends an auditor perform at least one walkthrough for each major class of transactions. SAS 99 does not require the use of forensic specialists but does recommend brainstorming, increased professional skepticism, and unpredictable audit tests. A proactive fraud approach involves a review of internal controls and the identification of areas most subject to fraud. Certified Forensic Accountants (Cr.FAs) will continue to be in demand to supplement the efforts of internal and external auditors. Many employees, executives, and investors now realize the stock market’s boom during the 1990s was at least partly stimulated by income smoothing and outright deception. The truth surfaced in October of 2001, when Enron, then the nation’s seventh-largest company, revealed more than $1 billion of accounting errors that stunned investors and launched investigations that continue today. Since that time, dozens of companies have been prosecuted or investigated for financial fraud. The almost daily revelations of corporate fraud battered the stock market and eroded investors’ confidence in the integrity of our capital markets. In response, Congress and the regulatory authorities passed legislation and issued regulations intended to raise the standards of corporate accountability, improve the detection and prevention of fraud and abuse, and reassure investors that they have a level playing field. Forensic Application of Palatal Rugae in Dental Identification Palatal rugae pattern analysis has been employed successfully in positive human identification. However, reports of the validity of the technique are conflicting. This report explores the viability of the use of palatal rugae in forensic dental identification and discusses the pros and cons of the subject. The level of evidence for the application of palatal rugae in dental identification was found to be insufficient. A well-designed research protocol must be developed to determine if there is a statistical significance in utilizing digital photographs of palatal rugae for forensic dental identification purposes. Types of Knee Injuries and How They Occur: A Forensic Review The purpose of this article is to distinguish the mechanism of knee injury (e.g., forward fall while foot is trapped, impact of knee on dashboard, chronic injury due to repetitive twisting, etc.) from the type of injury (e.g., torn meniscus, ruptured ACL, bursitis, etc.). While there are no absolute rules for positively associating each mechanism of injury with a specific type of injury, this article will provide some forensic guidance for those attempting to prove or disprove the relationship between mechanism and injury type. This Article is brought to you by
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