Hypocritical Oath
As Perri Klass reflects in “Invasions,” the modern relations between doctors and patients tend to dehumanize both. This is a necessary evil, to a certain degree. “As a patient, you have no privacy. The privacy of your body is of necessity violated constantly by doctors and nurses… And your body is made to give up its secrets with a variety of sophisticated techniques… The whole point is to deny your body the privacy that pathological processes need in order to do their damage.” (Kass 162) When does this breach of privacy go too far, though?
Are the modern physicians still upholding the Hippocratic Oath they took when they became medical professionals? In the case of the resident that Klass worked under as a medical student, no. On the subject of patient confidentiality, the Hippocratic Oath explicitly states, “Things I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of treatment regarding the life of human beings, things which one should never divulge outside, I will keep to myself.” (Kass 122) Yet the resident would joke about his patient’s past and present ailments with his fellow …show more content…
While there is debate on the mortality of abortion and euthanasia, surgery is a widely-accepted medical specialty. Hospitals and medical professionals do not care about patient confidentiality until they are accused of violating that confidentiality and brought to trial on such allegations. Klass even goes so far as to admit this. “Medical records are tricky items legally. Medical students are always being reminded to be discreet about what they write – the patient can demand to see the record, the records can be subpoenaed in a trial. Do not make jokes. If you think a serious mistake has been made, do not put that in the record – that is not for you to judge, and you will be providing ammunition for anyone trying to use the record against the hospital.” (Kass