A code of medical ethics : with remarks on the duties of practitioners to their patients, and the obligations of patients to their medical advisers : also on the duties of the profession to the public, and the obligations of the public to the faculty / by Jukes Styrap.

  • De Styrap, Jukes, 1815-1899.
Date:
1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A code of medical ethics : with remarks on the duties of practitioners to their patients, and the obligations of patients to their medical advisers : also on the duties of the profession to the public, and the obligations of the public to the faculty / by Jukes Styrap. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    towns,—as drainage, water-supply, ventilation, and sanitation generally; and in respect to measures for the prevention and mitigation of epidemic and contagious diseases ; and, when pes- tilence prevails, it is their duty to face the danger, and to con- tinue their labours for the alleviation of the suffering, even at the risk of their own lives. 2. Medical men should also be ready, when called on by the legally constituted authorities, to enlighten courts of inquisition and justice on matters strictly medical—such as involve ques- tions of sanity, legitimacy, murder by poisons or other violent means, and the various other subjects embraced in the science of Medical Jurisprudence. But in such cases, and especially those in which a critical post mortem, or other scientific examina- tion is necessary, it is only right and just, in consideration of the time, labour, and skill required, and the responsibility and risk they incur, that a fitting honorarium (other than the in- adequate fee so often tendered, under the plea of legal restric- tion,) should be awarded for the skilled service. [In certain cases, in which the required evidence is not compulsory on the practitioner, it may at times be prudent on his part to stipulate (as is the rule with f Counsel!) for an adequate and specified fee.] 3. In giving evidence on any medical question before a Court of Law, or other tribunal of society—whether in criminal or civil matters,—the faculty should act with thoughtful care and rigid impartiality:— A. —In ‘ Criminal Cases’—lest their testimony should tend either to prejudice the cause of an innocent person, or lead to a failure of justice. B. —In ‘ Civil Causes’—as in suits for compensation after railway, or other accidents,—that they may not by partial or partisan evidence unintentionally mislead the Court. With the view to avoid the lamentable differences of opinion which, proclaimed in open court, have undoubtedly brought discredit upon medical evidence in general, and scandal on the profession at large,—it cannot be too forcibly impressed upon the faculty, that, in all such cases, bona-fide, honest consultations should be freely held between the professional witnesses of the respective litigants ; that differences of opinion should be cour- teously advanced, and carefully weighed and argued ; that each