Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc 26 Unit 1 Foundations of Medical Law and Ethics evolve, definitions and interpretations of ethical standards of practice will transform. Some changes occur due to a new understanding of human conduct. For example, the atrocities of World War II increased social understanding of the extremes of scientific experimentation. Nazi Germany’s social and political denigration of certain types of people, such as the mentally disabled, religious minorities (Jewish peo- ple), and ethnic groups (the Romani people, known as Gypsies) led to a reassessment and rededication of many in the healthcare field to ethical conduct. One example was the World Medical Association’s adoption of The Nuremberg Code, which addressed the concept of informed ­ consent. This concept developed as a result of the discovery of forced experimen- tation on prisoners. Later declarations have included the following: • Declaration of Geneva (1948)—addressed con�dentiality and non-discrimination • Declaration of Sydney (1968)—de�ned death in light of developments in arti�cial life support (Figure 2.6) • Declaration of Oslo (1970)—attempted to reconcile therapeutic abortion with the Hippocratic Oath • Declarations of Tokyo (1975) and Hawaii (1977)—prohibited physicians’ participation in torture and the cruel and unusual punishment of prisoners These ethical rules were developed partially in response to laws of humanity that were established by the United Nations in response to traumatic world events during World War II. In 1974, given the variety of healthcare-related disciplines and related ethical codes, the US Department of Health Education and Welfare (now the US Department of Health and Human Services) created a National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. In 1979, the Commission released The Belmont Report, which defined fundamental ethical principles in healthcare for the United States. In 2001, immediately after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pen- tagon, the AMA developed its Declaration of Pro- fessional Responsibility. This document called on physicians to “reaffirm [their] historical commit- ment to combat natural and man-made assaults on the health and well being of humankind.” The declaration contains nine tenets, which include respecting human life and dignity, condemn- ing crimes against humanity, treating the sick without prejudice, protecting privacy and confi- dentiality, and working with colleagues toward advances in medicine and public health. Paul Vinten/Shutterstock.com Figure 2.6 Artificial life support, such as the ventilator shown here that can help a person breathe, changed the way that those in the field of healthcare thought about death.