Hippocrates, maimonides and the doctor's responsibility

Jack Kevorkian criticizes the Hippocratic tradition in Greek medicine, whic h bans the physician from giving his patient a lethal medication. He sees t his prohibition as potentially bringing harm to a suffering patient and not reflective of the larger Greek society which was tolerant and even approvi ng of suicide. However, Kevorkian's advocacy of doctor-assisted suicide can be seen as the polarity of doctor abandonment of the suffering patient rat her than as an antidote to it. Both positions involve an outcome of physici an removal from the suffering patient, which can be contrasted with Maimoni des' command to the physician to watch over the life and death of his patie nts.