Faheem's death was perhaps as avoidable as the 1995 killing of 6-year-old Elisa Izquierdo, whose prolonged abuse started the overhaul of New York City's child welfare system.

In the last years of his life Fadeyev developed a nervous condition, exacerbated by the prolonged abuse of alcohol.

The chief executive of the disability charity Mencap, Mark Goldring, said Askew had endured "terrible and prolonged abuse".

In their summary, the judges did not use the terms "sexual slaves," as prosecutors had during the trial, to describe the prolonged abuse of the girls and women of Foca.

Following the British defeat, and after enduring prolonged abuse, Davis and his family were forced to leave their home.

Osteomalacia and arthropathy associated with prolonged abuse of purgatives.

Cases where it might be unjust involve mercy killings, failed suicide pacts, and "battered defendants" who were subjected to "prolonged and severe abuse".

But as the prolonged abuse and brutal slaying of 6-year-old Elisa Izquierdo attests, the gap between what is on the books and what happens in reality can be enormous.

Generally, ArmorFlex panels must withstand prolonged abuse before breaking.

So long as President Bush delays naming directors for the national Legal Services Corporation, he must share in the blame for one of Ronald Reagan's most prolonged abuses.