Hippocratic Oath

Hippocratic Oath

Throughout the years the Hippocratic Oath has changed dramatically. The original oath was written by Hippocrates (460-377 BC). The current Hippocratic oath was rewritten in 1964 by Louis Lasagna. In an attempt to discover the differences in the 2 texts I have them both written out in full for you to compare below.

Original Hippocratic Oath

I swear by Apollo the physician, and Asclepius, and Hygieia and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses as my witness, that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this contract:

To hold him who taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents, to be a partner in life with him, and to fulfill his needs when required; to look upon his offspring as equals to my own siblings, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or contract; and that by the set rules, lectures, and every other mode of instruction I will impart a knowledge of the art to my own sons, and those of my teachers, and to students bound by this contract and having sworn this Oath to the law of medicine, but to no others.

I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgement, and I will do no harm or injustice to them.

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, now will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.

In purity and according to divine law will I carry out my life and my art.

I will not use the knife, even upon those suffering from stones, but I will leave this to those who are trained in this craft.

Into whatever homes I go, I will enter them for the benefit of the sick, avoiding any voluntary act of impropriety or corruption, including the seduction of women or men, whether they are free men or slaves.

Whatever I see or hear in the lives of my patients, whether in connection with my professional practice or not, which ought not to be spoken of outside, I will keep secret, as considering all such things to be private.

So long as I maintain this Oath faithfully and without corruption, may it be granted to me to partake of life fully and the practice of my art, gaining the respect of all men for all time. However, should I transgress this Oath and violate it, may the opposite be my fate.


Translated by Michael North, National Library of Medicine, 2002

1964 Hippocratic Oath

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgement, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.


Louis Lasagna, 1964

Many modifications have been made to the oath. In order to better analyze them I have listed them out below:

In the 20-21st centuries, the Greek gods are no longer respected. In fact a very influential part of society does not believe in any higher power or moral absolutes. Therefore, all references to these deities were removed.

Information was decided to be passed on freely without any contractual obligation. Those that could receive the information were limited to specific individuals including those who swore to the oath. In the modern age of colleges and universities, it would not be beneficial to encourage the free exchange of information in any instance. Even if it could be argued that students who have not sworn an oath yet may not be eligible for the free information, but that would also make them fall under those that should not be instructed. In the modern era, interactions amongst professionals was apparently determined to be more appropriate.

In the original oath there was an emphasis placed on encouraging proper diet while that is shifted in the modern interpretation to discuss encouraging preventative medicine. This broader term could likely be explained by the increase in medical knowledge and the expansion of means of preventing health problems.

In the original oath, it is very clear that the ability to kill someone including the ability to kill an unborn child should not be utilized by medical professionals. However, in the updated oath that has been removed and instead a statement is included regarding the assumed responsibility of a doctor to perform such actions.

In the original oath, it appears surgeons were not considered doctors and the two jobs were kept separate. This makes sense as doctors were not allowed to injure a patient and many times surgeries can go wrong. Especially in that day when surgery was so new. This was scraped in recent times as surgeons are typically considered doctors in the modern era.

Doctors are required to act honorably and not seduce anyone in the original oath.  This is mostly taken out of the modern oath. There is a brief mention of special responsibilities to society, but not much regarding avoiding corruption.

Both oaths agree to the importance of not gossiping. They both emphasize that a patient's condition and treatment should not be shared with the world, but rather that a patient has the right to privacy.

The updated oath removes all reference to consequences for breaking this oath. This is likely not only due to an aversion of people to have consequences, but also due to a disbelief of a higher power who can enforce the punishment.

The updated version strongly emphasizes the fact that patients are people and should be treated as people and not charts. This was likely not an issue back when the original version was made as the profession was less diluted with charts. Additionally, there was likely less choice in doctor, so if someone had an issue they would use the same doctor and perhaps see that doctor around town. I do find it quite interesting that the modern oath anticipates that listening and being caring alone may solve many ailments.

It is quite interesting how the original included that a doctor will to the best of their ability "do no harm" however in the modern era that has been removed. This seems to be after discovering the dangers of mental illness and cementing knowledge of suicidal tendencies that the ability of doctors to assist patients in ending their lives has become allowed. You would think the opposite would be the case.

Anyhow, those are my thoughts on the updated Hippocratic Oath. I hope you learned something and enjoyed taking this journey with me. Hopefully I will soon have a better history of Hippocrates and many other Greek scholars.