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Limits of professional secrecy: medical confidentiality in England and Germany in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (2006)
Journal Article
Pranghofer, S., & Maehle, A. (2006). Limits of professional secrecy: medical confidentiality in England and Germany in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 31(3), 231-244. https://doi.org/10.1179/030801806x113766

Among patients as well as doctors it is commonly held that confidentiality has been the foundation of the therapeutic relationship since the introduction of the Hippocratic oath. Nevertheless, medical confidentiality is a controversial issue, for exa... Read More about Limits of professional secrecy: medical confidentiality in England and Germany in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Quantification and Differentiation of the Drug Receptor Theory, c. 1910-1960 (2005)
Journal Article
Maehle, A. (2005). The Quantification and Differentiation of the Drug Receptor Theory, c. 1910-1960. Annals of Science, 62(4), 479-500. https://doi.org/10.1080/00033790412331312666

While historians have dealt with the origins of the concept of drug receptors in the work of Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) and John N. Langley (1852-1925) as well as with some of its applications in modern pharmaceutical research, the history of the recep... Read More about The Quantification and Differentiation of the Drug Receptor Theory, c. 1910-1960.

Historische Grundlagen des Rezeptor-Konzepts in der Pharmakologie * (2004)
Journal Article
Maehle, A. (2004). Historische Grundlagen des Rezeptor-Konzepts in der Pharmakologie *. Gesnerus, 61(1-2), 57-76

In present-day pharmacology, the existence of specific cell receptors, which can combine chemically with drugs, poisons, neurotransmitters and hormones, is often taken for granted. However, until the 1960s receptors were controversial hypothetical en... Read More about Historische Grundlagen des Rezeptor-Konzepts in der Pharmakologie *.

Protecting Patient Privacy or Serving Public Interests? Challenges to Medical Confidentiality in Imperial Germany (2003)
Journal Article
Maehle, A. (2003). Protecting Patient Privacy or Serving Public Interests? Challenges to Medical Confidentiality in Imperial Germany. Social History of Medicine, 16(3), 383-401. https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/16.3.383

With the Penal Code of 1871, confidentiality became a legal requirement for physicians, surgeons, and other health professions throughout Imperial Germany. However, based on an analysis of the relevant legal cases up to the First World War, this arti... Read More about Protecting Patient Privacy or Serving Public Interests? Challenges to Medical Confidentiality in Imperial Germany.

The Emergence of Medical Professional Ethics in Germany (2002)
Book Chapter
Maehle, A. (2002). The Emergence of Medical Professional Ethics in Germany. In A. Maehle, & J. Geyer-Kordesch (Eds.), Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on Biomedical Ethics. From Paternalism to Autonomy? (37-48). Ashgate Publishing

The Emergence of the Drug Receptor Theory (2002)
Journal Article
Maehle, A., Pruell, C., & Halliwell, R. (2002). The Emergence of the Drug Receptor Theory. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 1(8), 637-641. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd875

Today, the concept of specific receptors for drugs and transmitters lies at the very heart of pharmacology. Less than one hundred years ago, this novel idea met with considerable resistance in the scientific community. To mark the 150th anniversary o... Read More about The Emergence of the Drug Receptor Theory.