title: Legal controls of the medical profession.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors, after a brief historical review of the theme, review the articles published in the last year. The purpose is to verify how the field has moved on during this period, as a constant increase of legal and social controls on the medical profession is perceived.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Surprisingly, very few articles treating directly the theme reviewed were found. The better part of the articles examined legal aspects of the medical profession in a nonsystematic way. Among the ones selected those that dealt with internal controls (produced by the professional categories such as the Clinical Practice Guidelines) and those that dealt with external controls (produced by other social groups) could be identified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors conclude that the existence of limits and internal and external controls is fundamental for a professional medical practice of quality. However, the excess of controls, which causes a defensive attitude, may negatively interfere in the quality of the care offered to patients.
authors: Department of Clinical Medicine, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. jose@taborda.med.br
authors: José Gv
authors: JG
authors: Taborda
authors: Elias
authors: E
authors: Abdalla-Filho
authors: Cíntia
authors: C
authors: Dohler
authors: Helena Dias
authors: HD
authors: de Castro Bins
mesh_terms: D032781:Codes of Ethics; D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000266:history; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008511:Medicine / Q000592:standards; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000592:standards; D012926:Social Control, Formal