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Linda Piwowarczyk, MD, MPH; Alejandro Moreno, MD; Michael Grodin, MD

JAMA. 2000;284:539-541.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

Despite attempts by the world community to address human rights violations, torture and ill treatment were practiced in 132 countries in 1999.¹ Unfortunately, physicians are known to have been involved in torture, both by assessing prisoners before and during torture, and also by falsifying medical certificates and autopsy reports.² With rapid globalization and increasing international travel, physicians in developed countries will encounter growing numbers of torture survivors. However, many physicians may not be comfortable raising issues of physical abuse³ and survivors, for their part, may find the clinical setting to be reminiscent of prior experiences of torture.⁴ In this article, we present an approach to identifying and caring for survivors of torture.

What Is Torture?

The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines survivors of torture as those who have endured acts "by which severe . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Prevalence of Torture

An Approach

The Impact of Torture

Mental Health Treatment

Social Responsibilities of Physicians

Author Affiliations: Division of Psychiatry (Drs Piwowarczyk and Grodin), Departments of Medicine (Dr Moreno), Health Law (Dr Grodin), and Socio-Medical Sciences (Dr Grodin), Boston University Schools of Medicine (Drs Piwowarczyk, Moreno, and Grodin) and Public Health (Dr Grodin), Boston Medical Center (Drs Piwowarczyk, Moreno, and Grodin); and Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights (Drs Piwowarczyk, Moreno, and Grodin), Boston, Mass.

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ABSTRACT