Evidence that doctors and nurses were complicit in prison torture in Iraq.

[madfloridian]

From the New England Journal of Medicine in July.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/351/5/415

SNIP.."We know that medical personnel have failed to report to higher authorities wounds that were clearly caused by torture and that they have neglected to take steps to interrupt this torture. In addition, they have turned over prisoners' medical records to interrogators who could use them to exploit the prisoners' weaknesses or vulnerabilities. We have not yet learned the extent of medical involvement in delaying and possibly falsifying the death certificates of prisoners who have been killed by torturers."

SNIP...."Other reports, though sketchier, suggest that the death certificates of prisoners who might have been killed by various forms of mistreatment have not only been delayed but may have camouflaged the fatal abuse by attributing deaths to conditions such as cardiovascular disease.3

Various medical protocols — notably, the World Medical Association Declaration of Tokyo in 1975 — prohibit all three of these forms of medical complicity in torture. Moreover, the Hippocratic Oath declares, "I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrongdoing."

[libbygurl]

1. Am so glad the NEJM published this editorial. Hurrah for these MDs! n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Welcome to Iraq, Dr. Mengele.

And, if there's any problems, we have a brain dead girl, who is fond of leashes, to blame it on.