271:. Apparently, the axiom was part of Chomel's oral teaching. Hooker, however, was quoting an earlier work by Elisha Bartlett who, on pages 288–289, says "The golden axiom of Chomel, that it is only the second law of therapeutics to do good, its first law being this – not to do harm – is gradually finding its way into the medical mind, preventing an incalculable amount of positive ill." However, Hooker used neither the specific expression, nor the traditional Latin phrase.
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that all students in healthcare are taught in school and is a fundamental principle throughout the world. Another way to state it is that, "given an existing problem, it may be better not to do something, or even to do nothing, than to risk causing more harm than good." It reminds healthcare
284:. It addresses the questions of the origin and chronology of appearance of the maxim. Rather than being of ancient origin as usually assumed, the specific expression, and its even more distinctive associated Latin phrase, has been traced back to an attribution to
196:. Young and Wagner argued that, for healthcare professionals and other professionals subject to a moral code, in general beneficence takes priority over non-maleficence (“first, do good,” not “first, do no harm”) both historically and philosophically.
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An
American surgeon, L.A. Stimson, used the expression in 1879 and again in 1906 (in the same journal). That it was in common use by the 20th century is apparent from later mentions, such as by the prominent
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personnel to consider the possible harm that any intervention might do. It is invoked when debating the use of an intervention that carries an obvious risk of harm but a less certain chance of benefit.
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The article also reviews the various uses of the now popular aphorism, its limitations as a moral injunction, and its increasingly frequent use in a variety of contexts.
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was reported by the clinical pharmacologist Cedric M. Smith in the April 2005 issue of
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in 1911, as well as detailed discussion of its use in a popular book authored by
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An Essay on the
Philosophy of Medical Science, Lea & Blanchard, 1844
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The origin of the phrase is uncertain. Some early versions of the
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Article presenting various views on the principle of "Do no harm"
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According to
Gonzalo Herranz, Professor of Medical Ethics at the
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Non-maleficence is often contrasted with its complement,
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in the chair of medical pathology, and the preceptor of
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230:ἀσκέειν, περὶ τὰ νοσήματα, δύο, ὠφελέειν, ἢ μὴ βλάπτειν
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electronic responses and commentary, 1 September 2002.
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Foundation for a New Theory and
Practice of Medicine
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Foundation for a New Theory and
Practice of Medicine
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This article is about the phrase. For the film, see
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208:include the promise "to abstain from doing harm" (
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296:. Inman's book and his attribution were
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579:(ed.).
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108:JSTOR
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