[The definition of a failure to render assistance to the patient in the forensic medical practice]

The authors consider the necessity of determining the severity of harm inflicted to human health by the inaction of the officials and other persons responsible for rendering assistance to a patient in accordance with article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The absence of the normative formulation of the forensic medical criteria for the assessment of the degree of the harm to human health as a result of inaction of the subjects responsible for rendering medical aid creates difficulties for the enforcement of article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in its present wording. This problem awaits further studies for the possible adoption of the uniform normative and regulatory documents for the consistent application of the definition of inaction with reference to the assessment of not rendering medical assistance.