The Physician's Obligation to Prolong Life: A Medical Duty without Classical Roots

Abstract

Is physician's duty to prolong life a modern phenomenon, or does it have its roots in Hippocratic or other strains of classical medicine? First, we must ask, what is meant by phrase the physician's duty to prolong life? If this question were put to a physician in classical antiquity, he might reasonably ask us whether, by prolonging life, we mean increasing longevity generally; preserving health by prophylaxis; combating curable diseases and injuries; temporarily prolonging unhealthy life of a terminally ill patient; or refusing to assist in terminating life of any man with or without his consent, whether healthy or ill, and if ill, whether with a painful but curable or an incurable ailment.