[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Medical ethics](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/) › [Practising medicine in Colombia](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/areas/professional-law/) › Ley 23 de 1981: the Colombian medical ethics law # Ley 23 de 1981: the Colombian medical ethics law - Law Law 23 of 1981 is the ethics code for doctors in Colombia: how to treat the patient, keep confidentiality, and who judges misconduct. Updated Nov 5, 2026 ## Key points - Law 23 of 1981 = the medical ethics code; Decree 3380 of 1981 = its regulation. - Three titles: principles and oath; professional practice; tribunals, process and sanctions. - Medical record: art. 34. Secrecy: arts. 37 and 38. Consent: art. 15. Certificates: arts. 50 to 52. - Foreseen risk (art. 16): the doctor answers for what could be foreseen and warned of, not for the unforeseeable. - Sanctions (art. 83): private warning, censure, suspension up to six months and suspension up to five years. ## What it is Law 23 of 1981 (18 February) sets the rules of medical ethics in Colombia. It has three titles: the first holds the declaration of principles and the oath; the second regulates professional practice (relations with the patient and with colleagues, prescribing, the medical record, professional secrecy, certificates, relations with institutions and with society, and advertising); the third creates the medical ethics tribunals, the disciplinary process and the sanctions. Decree 3380 of 1981 regulates it and is now compiled in Decree 780 of 2016. ## Key articles - Art. 1: ten principles; among them, that the doctor-patient relationship demands the strictest professional confidentiality (no. 4) and that the doctor assists justice as an official or an expert witness (no. 6). - Art. 2: adopts the oath of the Geneva Convention of the World Medical Association, with an addition of its own. - Art. 3: the doctor will care for anyone who needs it, with no limits beyond those of the law; art. 6: will refuse acts contrary to morality. - Art. 7: outside emergencies, the doctor may decline or stop care for reasons the law lists. - Art. 12: only diagnostic or therapeutic means accepted by legally recognised scientific institutions may be used. - Art. 15: the doctor will not expose the patient to unjustified risks and will ask consent for treatments that may affect them; art. 16: liability for adverse reactions does not go beyond the foreseen risk. - Art. 34: the medical record is the mandatory record of the patient's health; it is private and confidential. - Arts. 37 and 38: professional secrecy and the five cases in which it may be disclosed (the patient, the family if it helps treatment, those responsible for minors or incapacitated people, the authorities in cases set by law, and risk to a spouse or offspring). - Arts. 40 and 41: forbid accepting commercial benefits from those who supply what the doctor prescribes, and charging or paying for patient referrals. - Arts. 50 to 52: a medical certificate must be clear, truthful and state its purpose; issuing a false one is serious misconduct. - Art. 63: creates the National Medical Ethics Tribunal; art. 67: a regional tribunal in each department; art. 83: the sanctions. ## What it covers - Title I (arts. 1 and 2): declaration of principles and the medical oath. - Title II (arts. 3 to 62): professional practice, in six chapters: relations with the patient; relations between colleagues; prescribing, the medical record, professional secrecy and certain conduct; relations with institutions; relations with society and the State; advertising and intellectual property. - Title III (arts. 63 to 94): oversight bodies and disciplinary regime: the Medical Federation, the ethics tribunals, the disciplinary process and the sanctions. ## In clinical practice - In the clinic, consent (art. 15), recording in the medical record (art. 34) and confidentiality (art. 37) are the three duties most often examined and most often behind complaints. - In an emergency the doctor may not decline to give care (art. 7) or make care depend on payment in advance (art. 23). - A certificate that does not keep to the truth, such as a sick note given as a favour, is serious ethical misconduct (arts. 51 and 52). ## Status and official text - Official text checked on 2026-11-05 on funcionpublica.gov.co (Gestor Normativo, Law 23 of 1981) and in Decree 780 of 2016 published on minsalud.gov.co. - Regulated by Decree 3380 of 1981, whose articles are compiled in Decree 780 of 2016 (Book 2, Part 7, Title 2, Chapter 2, Section 1). - Art. 72 was repealed by art. 136 of Decree 19 of 2012. - Law 1164 of 2007 and Statutory Law 1751 of 2015 complement these duties; in a conflict the higher-ranking and later rule applies. Check the text in force before citing it. ## Memory aid «34 writes, 37 keeps quiet, 15 asks, 83 punishes»: medical record, secrecy, consent and sanctions. ## Test yourself Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it. ## Which article of Law 23 of 1981 defines the medical record? Art. 34: it is the mandatory record of the patient's health conditions, a private document subject to confidentiality. ## In which cases does art. 38 of Law 23 allow professional secrecy to be disclosed? To the patient; to the family if it helps treatment; to those responsible for minors or incapacitated people; to judicial or health authorities as the law allows; and to those at risk when a serious disease endangers a spouse or offspring. ## Which decree regulates Law 23 of 1981? Decree 3380 of 1981, now compiled in the Single Regulatory Decree of the health sector, Decree 780 of 2016. ## Which oath does art. 2 of Law 23 adopt? The oath approved by the Geneva Convention of the World Medical Association, with the addition the law itself sets out. [Add to my cards (4)](https://durgical.app/estudiar/?add=/en/medical-ethics/ley-23-de-1981-the-colombian-medical-ethics-law/) ## Connections ## Related 6 - [The medical ethics tribunals: process and sanctions](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/the-medical-ethics-tribunals-process-and-sanctions/) - [Oaths and codes: Hippocrates, the Declaration of Geneva and the Colombian oath](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/oaths-and-codes-hippocrates-the-declaration-of-geneva-and-the-colombian-oath/) - [Professional secrecy and confidentiality](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/professional-secrecy-and-confidentiality/) - [Informed consent: elements and how to obtain it](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/informed-consent-elements-and-how-to-obtain-it/) - [Resolución 1995 de 1999: the medical record](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/resolucion-1995-de-1999-the-medical-record/) - [Ley 1164 de 2007: health workforce](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/ley-1164-de-2007-health-workforce/) [← All of medical ethics](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/) Educational content on ethics and health law; not legal advice. Laws and case law change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, read the text in force and ask a lawyer or the medical ethics tribunal. Sources: [Ley 23 de 1981, por la cual se dictan normas en materia de ética médica](https://www.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=68760) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 1981); [Decreto 780 de 2016, Decreto Único Reglamentario del Sector Salud y Protección Social (compiles Decree 3380 of 1981)](https://www.minsalud.gov.co/Normatividad_Nuevo/Decreto%200780%20de%202016.pdf) (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, 2016). ## **Spotted a mistake?** We are always improving for the community. Tell us what is wrong and our team will review it. Report a mistake Representative model, for educational purposes only. --- Source: https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/ley-23-de-1981-the-colombian-medical-ethics-law/ License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 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