According to the Book of Exodus, a man who assaults anothermust pay a physician to heal the wounds. A careful examinationof the Hebrew text reveals that the word "heal" appears twice;the literal reading is "and heal he shall be healed." The 13th-centurymedieval physician and philosopher Nachmanides interprets thisredundant phrase to mean that physicians require permissionto heal, for "without the warrant to treat, physicians mighthesitate to treat patients . . . `in that there isan element of danger in every medical procedure; that whichheals one may kill another.'" This 800-year-old warning seemsself-evident, yet . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Source Information
From the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD.
Related Letters:
Radiation Exposure from Medical Imaging Procedures
Applegate K. E., Amis E. S. Jr., Schauer D. A., Becker G. J., Bosma J., Hendee W., Mezrich R. S., Budhraja V., Diamond B. F., Fazel R., Krumholz H. M., Nallamothu B. K., Lauer M. S.
Extract |
Full Text |
PDF
N Engl J Med 2009;
361:2289-2292, Dec 3, 2009.
Correspondence
This article has been cited by other articles:
Applegate, K. E., Amis, E. S. Jr., Schauer, D. A., Becker, G. J., Bosma, J., Hendee, W., Mezrich, R. S., Budhraja, V., Diamond, B. F., Fazel, R., Krumholz, H. M., Nallamothu, B. K., Lauer, M. S.
(2009). Radiation exposure from medical imaging procedures.. NEJM
361: 2289-2290
[Full Text]
Steinbrook, R.
(2009). Drug Shortages and Public Health. NEJM
361: 1525-1527
[Full Text]
Bonow, R. O.
(2009). Should Coronary Calcium Screening Be Used in Cardiovascular Prevention Strategies?. NEJM
361: 990-997
[Full Text]