ABSTRACT
During the Middle Ages the Christian monastic physicians continued to follow the Hippocratic traditions of clinician authority and client obedience. Many were also pragmatic about medicine as a source of income. By the middle of the Nineteenth Century, newly established medical associations in both the United States and England had developed ethical codes that were presented to the public as an assurance of client safety. At the turn of the century, sexual abuse of women clients by male medical practitioners is a significant problem in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the United States. Stephen Lock and Frank Wells identified 46 major instances of scientific fraud between 1975 and 1993 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Switzerland. Economic greed on the part of medical practitioners became so unmanageable in the United States that the government finally took action and introduced 'managed care', which places specific external constraints on the provision of medical services.
