SUMMARY :
A report entitled Medical practice and sexuality was adopted in December 2000
by the French national Medical Association. For the very first time, issues
related to the risk of seduction during a medical consultation (in other terms,
the possibility of sexual relations between physicians and their patients) were
clearly emphasized. The recent implication of one of our colleague sexologists
in a case brought before the Medical Association and the Magistrates Court in
Paris has brought this sensitive issue under the spotlight of the media.
Why has it suddenly become necessary to legislate on something which everyone
knows is forbidden ? In this paper, the author uses the central issues of taboo
and transgression to examine the relationship between morals, ethics and codes
of medical practice. The standpoint he adopts, although not trying to be subversive,
is not one that will necessarily obtain support from all sides.