Lessons From Nuremberg: Ethical and Social Responsibilities for Health Care Professionals, Health Care Organizations, and Medical Journals-Reply

In Reply.  —Dr Friedmann emphasizes the importance of the pages of JAMA as a historical source on events within Nazi Germany and the responses or possibly the lack thereof, from THE JOURNAL and its readership. An analysis of that response requires an examination of the total content of THE JOURNAL for that period, taking into consideration racial prejudice of the day and the North American attitude toward the eugenics movement, including the relationship between eugenics experts in North America and Germany.^1,2 Another area that needs to be considered is the reaction of the American medical profession to physician refugees from Nazi Germany who sought to establish practice in the United States.^3,4Mr Vuylsteke's letter emphasizes the fact that the lessons to be learned from the Hitler period extend beyond eugenics and the horrors of the concentration camps to encompass the very foundation of medical practice including the economics of health