Emerging issues related to the management of patients in custody during the COVID-19 outbreak in France.

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 Custody Public health

Journal

International journal of prisoner health
ISSN: 1744-9219
Titre abrégé: Int J Prison Health
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101255940

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
06 May 2021
Historique:
entrez: 5 5 2021
pubmed: 6 5 2021
medline: 25 5 2021
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

This paper aims to give an overview of emerging issues relating to the management of patients in custody during the COVID-19 outbreak in France. During custody in France, a medical consultation is provided for any patient who requests it. In the Paris area, this consultation is carried out by a practitioner in forensic medicine, based in a general hospital. Usually, most medical consultations for patients in custody take place directly in police stations. With the COVID-19 outbreak, the authors chose to suspend this activity, asking law enforcement to bring patients directly to their hospitals. Patients presenting with severe infections or indicative symptoms of the severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 infection and a comorbidity are tested for COVID-19. Such patients remain hospitalized until results of the test are received. If the result is positive, they are hospitalized for the length of their custody. If sent to prison, they are transferred to a medical facility in detention. From the onset of the outbreak, the authors observed increased pressure from law enforcement to obtain medical information. According to the French Code of Medical Ethics, no medical information should be disclosed regarding the authors' patients' medical situations. The authors are also concerned about sending a potentially infected patient back to a police station, to prison or to his/her home. This paper provides a snapshot of issues relating to the management of patients in custody during the COVID-19 outbreak in France. Unfortunately, the current situation in France does not permit a wider range of testing for the specified population in this paper.

Identifiants

pubmed: 33949170
doi: 10.1108/IJPH-04-2020-0023
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Informations de copyright

© Emerald Publishing Limited.

Références

Article 63-3 du Code de Procédure Pénale (2021), available at: www.legifrance.gouv.fr
Chariot, P. and Heide, S. (2018), “Custody medicine”, Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, Vol. 57, pp. 55-57.
Chauvin, F. (2020), “Priorisation des test diagnostiques”, Haut Conseil de La Santé Publique, 13 March, available at: http://splf.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/hcsp_sars-cov2-priorisationtestsdiagnostiques-2020-03-11-2.pdf
Ginn, S. (2012), “Prison environment and health”, BMJ, Vol. 345 No. sep17 1, pp. e5921-e5921.
Kampf, G., Todt, D., Pfaender, S. and Steinmann, E. (2020), “Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents”, Journal of Hospital Infection, Vol. 104 No. 3, pp. 246-251.
Li, T. (2020), “Diagnosis and clinical management of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection: an operational recommendation of Peking union medical college hospital (V2.0): working group of 2019 novel coronavirus, Peking union medical college hospital”, Emerging Microbes & Infections, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 582-585.

Auteurs

Laurène Dufayet (L)

Medico-Judicial Unit, Hôtel-Dieu, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris, Paris, France and Centre AntiPoison et de Toxicovigilance de Paris - Fédération de Toxicologie de l'APHP (FeTox), Hôpital Fernand-Widal, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris, Paris, France.

Cyrus Macaigne (C)

Medico-Judicial Unit, Centre Hospitalier Inter-Communal de Créteil, Créteil, France.

Nicolas Soussy (N)

Medico-Judicial Unit, Hôtel-Dieu, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris, Paris, France.

Elizabeth Alcaraz (E)

Medico-Judicial Unit, Hôtel-Dieu, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris, Paris, France.

Charlotte Gorgiard (C)

Medico-Judicial Unit, Hôtel-Dieu, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris, Paris, France.

Classifications MeSH