World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action |
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Medical Ethics | The Hippocratic Oath | |||||||
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I swear by Apollo the physician, by Aeseulapius, Hygeia, and Panacea,
and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according
to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath.
"To consider dear to me as my parents him who taught me this art;
to live in common with him and if necessary to share my goods with him;
to look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art if
they so desire without fee or written promise; to impart to my sons and
the sons of the master who taught me and the disciples who have enrolled
themselves and have agreed to the rules of the profession, but to these
alone the precepts and the instruction. I will prescribe regimen for the
good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never
do harm to anyone. To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug nor
give advice which may cause his death. Nor will I give a woman a pessary
to procure abortion. But I will preserve the purity of my life and my
art. I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is
manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners,
specialists in this art. In every house where I come I will enter only
for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional
ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love
with women or with men, be they free or slaves. All that may come to my
knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with
men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will
never reveal. If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and
practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve
from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot."
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