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27 September 2006

Oath Betrayed:
Where Are the Doctors
When Military Prisoners Are Interrogated?

Steven H. Miles, M.D., Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota
Richard J. Bonnie, L.L.B., School of Law, UVA

Sometimes health professionals monitoring military prisoners are silent when detainees are interrogated, or they provide information that in turn influences the treatment of persons under interrogation. How does such behavior by doctors, nurses, and medics square with their respective professional oaths and ethical codes as well as with international standards? How do these individuals handle conflicting professional duties?

Co-presented with the Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life