01731nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653003900059653002000098653002000118653001100138653002600149653002600175653002600201653002100227653002200248653002100270653001200291653002200303653002200325653001800347100002000365245008000385300001200465490000700477520093100484022001401415       1990                            d  c1990 Mar-Apr10aAcquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome10aCodes of Ethics10aEthics, Medical10aEurope10aHistory, 18th Century10aHistory, 19th Century10aHistory, 20th Century10aHistory, Ancient10aHistory, Medieval10aInternationality10aleprosy10aMoral Obligations10aPatient Selection10aUnited States1 aFriedlander W J00aOn the obligation of physicians to treat AIDS: is there a historical basis?  a191-2030 v123 a<p>This study examines the historical bases of what physicians ought to do as well as what they actually have done with regard to the treatment of diseases such as AIDS, which put them at risk for their lives. The earliest explicit statement of what ought to be done goes back only to 1847, when the American Medical Association was founded. However, this statement conflicts with a 75-year-old assertion that physicians have a right to choose whom they will serve. The conflict is compounded by the suspicion that both stated principles were based, at least in part, on socioeconomic considerations rather than moral imperatives. Of what physicians have actually done over the last 2,400 years, little more can definitely be said than that many have not tried to escape mortal risk while others have done so. Thus it is difficult to employ history as a basis for claiming that physicians have an obligation to treat AIDS.</p>  a0162-0886