Editing Reclaiming Medical Ethics (section)

==== Antiquity and Timelessness of Caraka’s Code of Medical Ethics ====
Caraka is said to have written a description of the code of ethics to be followed by practitioners of Āyurveda in his Saṃhitā a few hundred years prior to Hippocrates. Even if we put aside its antiquity, its universal exposition of values and their timeless nature shine through his document. Medical ethics is erroneously attributed solely to Western philosophy and medical training, yet has always been an inseparable part of medical education in ancient India and the inspirational legacy of ancient Indian physicians. Ancient India’s contributions to medicine and ethics are remarkable and continue to have immense value almost 3000 years later, despite the wholesale adoption of the system of Western medicine by the post-colonial state. Perhaps our education system is to be blamed, but few Indian physicians even know of the ethical and moral principles outlined by our ancient Āyurvedic texts, and are instead more familiar with the Hippocratic Oath.