Abstract

GALLO, Óscar. Expertise, accidents and hernias in the context of the right to health, Colombia 1915-1946. Dynamis [online]. 2016, vol.36, n.2, pp.491-515. ISSN 2340-7948.

For most physicians, the assessment of disability in cases of work accident or occupational disease is very relative matter, and clinical judgments are subjective and unsatisfactory in legal settings. Work accident legislation gives them the task of deciding on any causal links between accident and disease and indicating any economic compensation that should be awarded. They must therefore reach beyond their scientific knowledge to understand the multitude of social factors that underlie these problems in the world of work. In this article, we analyze Colombian sources from the first half of the 20th century on the physiology of labor, fatigue, professional risk, work accidents, occupational diseases, among other issues. The aim is to advance understanding of how the field of medical knowledge established an ethical approach for experts in cases of occupational accidents, focusing on hernias, typical misfortunes of the world of work.

Keywords : hernias; accidents at work; occupational medicine; Colombia.

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