01234nas a2200145   4500000000100000008004100001260006600042653002100108100001200129245009600141300001200237490000700249520081800256022001401074       2020                            d  bAustralian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine10aGeneral Medicine1 aRobson 00aDoctors’ Dilemma: Appraising the Rights of New South Wales Leprosy Sufferers, 1890–1950  a126-1490 v223 aIn 1890, the New South Wales government passed legislation/or the isolation and detention of people with leprosy. Ostensibly applicable to all and providing for indefinite incarceration in the lazaret, the legislation gained a reputation for being exceptionally harsh. By examining the creation of this legislation and its implementation over the following four decades, this article shows that in its design and application, the law targeted the colony's marginalised—the poor, the itinerant, and, to a lesser extent, the Chinese—whereas wealthier and more educated Europeans were spared its force. It shows doctors 'reluctance to comply with the law in the knowledge their patients would be subjected to what the medical superintendent of the lazaret called 'the most miserable existence I can conceive of'.  a1442-1771