Doctor, Dictator

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
-Lord Acton

“Do no harm.” To most people these three words form the basis of what a physician is. These simple words also sum up the standard to which those in the medical profession are held to.

For over two millennia the Hippocratic Oath has been used to initiate doctors into the family of physicians. Very little has changed since the time it was first recorded in print. Two thousand years later the Hippocratic Oath and Law of Hippocrates continue to be as relevant today as the day they were first written.

The physician who takes the oath states, among other things, that they will “…treat without exception all who seek my ministrations…” The doctor also pledges that whatever patient setting they enter that they “…will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief or corruption and further from the seduction of any patient.” Hippocrates states in his Law: “The physician must not only be prepared to do what is right himself, but also to make the patient, the attendants, and externals cooperate.”

To this end, the World Medical Association convened in 1948 and created the “International Code of Ethics.” In this code the medical community affirmed more clearly what the Oath of Hippocrates states. As well, the doctors swear to “…always bear in mind the obligation of preserving human life…” and “…must practice his profession uninfluenced by motives of profit.”

But when a doctor leaves the medical profession to take up the role of dictator, do they continue to keep the promise they swore to, or have they embraced a different set of morals? Let’s examine each role and what is expected of them...