title: [Nazism and medicine. Learning from history].
abstract: Between 1933-1945 in Nazi Germany, physicians and other professional care providers participated in forced sterilization of patients who were carriers of genetic origin diseases and psychiatric disorders, extermination of children and adults with congenital and mental diseases, "scientific and pseudoscientific" medical experiments without consent and mass extermination of people based on their religion, political, cultural or sexual identity (Jews, gypsies, homosexuals). At present, the same ethical issues present during Nazi Period (research limits, end-life decisions, role of the physician as state or health system servant, and genetic research) continue to be present in routine medical care. Having knowledge of the past and the role played by Nazi doctors reinforces the necessary emphasis on bioethics and professionalism within the training of professional health providers.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Medicina de Familia y Atención Primaria, Departamento de Medicina, Centro de Salud Universitario Villanueva de la Cañada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España. estebangl@wanadoo.es
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: González-López
mesh_terms: D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D006666:History of Medicine; D049673:History, 20th Century; D028683:National Socialism / Q000266:history*