Do No Harm

Abstract

This essay considers at length some ethical, philosophical implications of the medical maxim, "Do no harm" (or "Primum non nocere"). It helps to designate the practice of medicine as a moral enterprise. It implies that the physician will render due care, but that "due care" will take into account both the risk-benefit ratio and the benefit-detriment equation. The essay closes with a brief discussion of euthanasia considered in the light of the maxim.