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The Hippocratic Oath: is it outdated?

Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Trust, St Mary’s Hospital, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 5TG, email: richard.braithwaite{at}iow.nhs.uk

Marzanski et al (Psychiatric Bulletin, September 2006, 30, 327–329) highlight the shortcomings of the Hippocratic Oath in their survey of psychiatrists’ attitudes. The Oath has become flawed for two main reasons.

First, it is outdated. It contains archaic, gender-specific language but, more importantly, it completely forbids abortion. Doctors in all regions of the UK widely support the provision of termination of pregnancy (Marie Stopes International, 1999) which is legel in Great Britain. Marzanski et al confirm unease with this principle of the Oath, although the standard responses on their Likert scale do not necessarily lend themselves to accurate representations of respondents’ views on this and some other principles surveyed.

Second, the Oath has been superseded by adequate modern guidance and doctrine, which relate more closely to current practice and expectations of doctors. Good Medical Practice (General Medical Council, 2001) provides guidance to all UK doctors on issues of ethics and professionalism, and the Declaration of Geneva (World Medical Association, 2006) sets out 11 principles of medical practice in much the same manner as the Oath. Unlike the Oath, the Declaration does not mention abortion and includes pledges not to discriminate on racial, religious or other grounds and not to violate human rights or civil liberties. This latter pledge holds a special significance for our specialty, given the abuses that have been perpetrated internationally in the name of psychiatry.

References

GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL (2001) Good Medical Practice. http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/library/GMP.pdf

MARIE STOPES INTERNATIONAL (1999) General Practitioners: Attitudes to Abortion. http://www.mariestopes.org.uk/pdf/gps-attitude-report.pdf

WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (2006) Declaration of Geneva. http://www.wma.net/e/policy/c8.htm

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Braithwaite, R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Braithwaite, R.