a mere formality". In Nazi Germany, medical students did not take the Hippocratic Oath, although they knew the ethic of "nil nocere"--do no harm.

In 1964, Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, wrote a modern version of the Hippocratic Oath. It omitted the prayer while focusing on "utmost respect for human life from its beginning", making it a more secular obligation, not to be taken