TY - JOUR PY - 1986// TI - A question of conscience. Physicians in defense of human rights JO - JAMA journal of the American Medical Association A1 - Nightingale, E. O. A1 - Stover, E. SP - 2794 EP - 2797 VL - 255 IS - 20 N2 - The vital role physicians can play in documenting physical and mental abuse of political prisoners, treating and rehabilitating victims, and preventing the punitive use of medicine is exemplified by the actions of three physicians whose stories are told here. Wendy Orr, a South African prison physician, took her complaint about police torture of political detainees to court after her superiors ignored her reports of prisoner abuse. An internationally known Chilean surgeon, Pedro Castillo, has been arrested twice for his work against the human rights violations of his country's military government. Soviet psychiatrist Anatoly Koryagin is reported to be near death after several years' imprisonment for his activities against involuntary psychiatric commitment of dissidents. Nightingale and Stover remind physicians of their obligation to protest the misuse of medical skills and urge support for professional organizations actively engaged in human rights issues.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0098-7484 UR - http://dx.doi.org/ ID - ref1 ER -