Force-Feeding Detainees Violates Medical Ethics: Journal
Aug 6th, 2007 • Posted in: NewsCHICAGO
Military doctors violate medical ethics when they force-feed hunger-striking prisoners at the U.S. detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, claims a commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
According to a summary of the article in the Jurist, the website of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, the authors claim that military doctors should not force treatment on patients who have not provided informed consent.
“A military physician needs to be a physician first and a military officer second,” said Dr. Sondra Crosby, one of the authors, according to a report from Newsday.
The article also faults military doctors for not informing detainees of the risk of force-feeding or hunger striking.
The American Medical Association (AMA) officially has gone on record opposing force-feeding in cases in which the prisoner is considered by the physician to be capable of making a rational judgment, according to an AMA press release.
Last week, the Associated Press reported that 20 of 23 hunger-striking detainees were being fed with tubes inserted through their noses and throats. They are fasting in protest of conditions at the camp and their indeterminate terms.
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