Medical Oaths, Declarations, and Codes

Abstract

In the second of a series of articles on philosophical medical ethics, Gillon briefly describes the World Medical Association's declarations on medical ethics, including the Declaration of Geneva, the international code of medical ethics adopted in London in 1949, and the Declarations of Helsinki, Lisbon, Sydney, Oslo, Tokyo, Hawaii, and Venice. Raising the question whether British physicians should be bound by these declarations, rather than by the code of ethics of the General Medical Council which has legal jurisdiction over them, he contends that law is too fluid to serve as a foundation for ethics. He plans to discuss the fundamental underpinnings of medical ethics in subsequent articles. (KIE abstract)