[Treatment of drug addicts under the aspect of medicoprofessional ethics (author's transl)].

The problem of an effective treatment of drug addicts is getting more and more important. This applies in particular to youngsters who have become addicted to opiate drugs. The medical profession is confronted by the question to what extent they can contribute towards tackling this task. It is becoming evident that success can be achieved if physicians join hands with skilled social workers. Insofar as drug-free methods are applied, the realization of such co-operation does not involve any obvious legal or ethical difficulties linked to a professional code. However, there is an obstacle to the development and critical testing of new methods in the field of addiction, namely, the scholastic tendency to recognize definite therapeutic methods only as being in line with professional ethics, whereas other methods, especially those supported by the use of pharmaceuticals, are rejected or discriminated right away as erroneous or illegal. It is suggested to gradually come away from this scholastic position and to utilize the criteria normally applicable and well-tried in the medico-scientific field. Differentiation between methods in line with professional ethics and questionable methods can be effected only against the background of empirical results.