Friedlander W J
Department of Preventive and Societal Medicine, University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Omaha.
Rev Infect Dis. 1990 Mar-Apr;12(2):191-203. doi: 10.1093/clinids/12.2.191.
This study examines the historical bases of what physicians ought to do as well as what they actually have done with regard to the treatment of diseases such as AIDS, which put them at risk for their lives. The earliest explicit statement of what ought to be done goes back only to 1847, when the American Medical Association was founded. However, this statement conflicts with a 75-year-old assertion that physicians have a right to choose whom they will serve. The conflict is compounded by the suspicion that both stated principles were based, at least in part, on socioeconomic considerations rather than moral imperatives. Of what physicians have actually done over the last 2,400 years, little more can definitely be said than that many have not tried to escape mortal risk while others have done so. Thus it is difficult to employ history as a basis for claiming that physicians have an obligation to treat AIDS.
本研究考察了医生在治疗诸如艾滋病这类使他们生命面临风险的疾病时，应该做什么以及实际做了什么的历史依据。关于应该做什么的最早明确表述仅可追溯到1847年，即美国医学协会成立之时。然而，这一表述与一项有75年历史的主张相冲突，该主张认为医生有权选择为谁服务。这种冲突因人们怀疑这两个既定原则至少部分是基于社会经济考量而非道德要求而加剧。在过去2400年里医生实际做了什么，确切地说，除了许多医生没有试图逃避致命风险而其他医生这么做了之外，可说的不多。因此，很难将历史作为声称医生有治疗艾滋病义务的依据。
