Professor Andreas Maehle a.h.maehle@durham.ac.uk
Professor
Traditional historiography tends to draw a negative picture of British doctors’ ethics during the long nineteenth century. The medical professional ethics of this period have been described as self-serving and as a tool to monopolise the health care market. In this paper I attempt to challenge this rather one-sided view by looking into evidence for the practice of medical ethics, not just its normative texts. Focusing on the disciplinary function of the General Medical Council and discussing a variety of its cases, from fraudulent registration, sexual misconduct and breach of confidence to negligence, covering unqualified assistants and advertising, I argue that nineteenth-century medical ethics aimed at supporting the interests of patients and of the public at large as well as the reputation of the profession.
Maehle, A. (2020). Beyond Professional Self-Interest: Medical Ethics and the Disciplinary Function of the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom, 1858-1914. Social History of Medicine, 33(1), 41-56. https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hky072
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jul 19, 2018 |
Online Publication Date | Aug 17, 2018 |
Publication Date | Feb 28, 2020 |
Deposit Date | Jul 20, 2018 |
Publicly Available Date | Aug 17, 2020 |
Journal | Social History of Medicine |
Print ISSN | 0951-631X |
Electronic ISSN | 1477-4666 |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 33 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 41-56 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hky072 |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1353847 |
Accepted Journal Article
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Copyright Statement
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Social History Of Medicine following peer review. The version of record Maehle, Andreas-Holger (2020). Beyond Professional Self-Interest: Medical Ethics and the Disciplinary Function of the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom, 1858-1914. Social History of Medicine 33(1): 41-56is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hky072
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