In 1621, Geneva faced a syphilis outbreak. Geneva's council demanded that apothecaries and physicians report every treatment to the council, in the name of cont

In 1621, Geneva faced a syphilis outbreak. Geneva's council demanded that apothecaries and physicians report every treatment to the council, in the name of controlling the outbreak. The apothecaries and physicians immediately protested in writing, claiming that violating their patients' privacy would exacerbate the outbreak by making them less likely to seek treatment. A summary of these writings in French, by Leon Gautier: https://archive.org/stream/b2475674x/b2475674x_djvu.txt https://archive.org/stream/b2475674x/b2475674x_djvu.txt Relevant excerpt fed through Google Translate for convenience: > The Council, according to its custom, did not wish to be wrong, but practically justified the faculty. From that date, the authority does not seem to have required the medical profession to make the mandatory declaration of all cases of venereal disease. And even today (1906) the problem of reconciling the public interest and the honor of families remains before the legislator and the public.