The Hippocratic Oath

 The Hippocratic Oath is an oath taken by doctors and other healthcare professionals swearing to  preserve and protect life above all else.In the original version,one of its most basic principles states that doctors must always cure patients regardless of any circumstances , but  the modern version written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna  states that doctors must always cure patients, but never harm them. Doctors have the obligation to preserve life, but should be this their only obligation? , what about the quality of life?. Dr Gerrit Kimsma  a general practitioner and a lecturer in medical ethics at the University of Amsterdam admits that in the case of euthanasia there is a conflict between two of his  goals as a doctor. Nowadays, doctors have to achive the goal of saving life and the goal of helping people who are suffering.He believes that helping people is the morally right thing to do. "My patients can be sure that I will not let them suffer unnecessarily alone.That is my goal and a duty  as a physician ".
"Over time the Hippocratic Oath has been modified on a number of occasions as some of its tenets became less and less acceptable.References to women not studying medicine and doctors not breaking the skin have been deleted. The much-quoted reference to " do no harm" is also in need of explanation .Does not doing harm mean that we should prolong a life that the patient sees as a painful burden? Surely, the "harm" in this instance is done when we prolong the life, and "doing no harm" means that we should help the patient die.Killing the  patient-technically,yes. It is a good thing-sometimes,yes. It is consistent with good medical end-of-life care:absolutely yes"

-- Philip Nitschke, MD
Director and Founder, Exit International
"Euthanasia Sets Sail," National Review Online