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[German Version] Every medical treatment is basically an experiment, since the desired result cannot be guaranteed. In the strict sense, however, a clinical experiment is considered to be a treatment intended to advance scientific knowledge – either in isolation (human experiment) or in conjunction with a medical treatment (clinical trial). Because the risk in a human experiment or a clinical trial can never be eliminated, there is an urgen…

[German Version] I. Definition – II. History – III. Theories of Medical Ethics – IV. Problem Areas I. Definition Medical ethics is defined by its task and its area of concern. In the broad sense, medical ethics encompasses moral issues in the medical field, including relevant values, rules, norms, and institutions. Here, the problems are not only related to the individual doctor-patient relationship, …

[German Version] The so-called Hippocratic Oath is part of the Corpus Hippocraticum, the most important collection of medical writings of antiquity. The oath is wrongly ascribed: most likely it was not composed by Hippocrates himself. With the Hippocratic Oath physicians pledge to benefit their patients, to avoid doing harm, and to maintain secrecy. Voluntary euthanasia and certain kinds of abortion are also forbidden, as is sexual abuse of patients. The original Hippocratic Oath reads as follows (translation as given by the National Institutes of Health in the United States): “I swear by Apollo, Asclepius, Hygieia, 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. / I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment…

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