Changes to military medical ethics rules proposed by a Pentagon panel may impact the practice of force-feeding inmates at Guantanamo. The panel may also have just saved the career of a Navy nurse who refused to force feed Guantanamo captives. Jason Leopold at VICE:
A federal committee that advises the Secretary of Defense on health policy has recommended that the Pentagon allow military healthcare workers to bow out of performing medical procedures that would violate their profession's code of ethics, or their religious and moral beliefs. Personnel that decline to participate in the procedures should not face retribution.
The recommendation is one of more dozen suggested changes to military medical ethical policies contained in a sweeping 104-page report drafted by the Defense Health Board's medical ethics subcommittee and quietly released last week. If the Pentagon accepts the committee's guidance, it could potentially have a huge impact on the operations at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, where hunger-striking detainees are routinely force-fed by Navy nurses who have been accused of violating their medical code of ethics.
Since the onset of the global war on terror, the military has been blamed for gross violations of standard medical ethical principles to avoid the infliction of harm by forcing doctors and nurses to participate not only in the widely condemned practice of force-feeding of detainees, but also in interrogations where prisoners were abused and tortured.
Pentagon Panel Proposes Sweeping Changes that Could Impact Guantanamo Force-Feeding [Vice News]
Ethical Guidelines and Practices for U.S. Military Medical Professionals
