Lack of training and lack of knowledge can adversely influence a patient’s clinical outcomes.

Editorial fellow Dr Ariel Wampler describes what few know about material and device regulation, and Dr Adriane Fugh-Berman explains why we should ask more questions about device representatives’ intraoperative roles during implantations.

Jeffrey Bedard joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article: "What Should Patients Be Told About Device Representatives’ Roles at the Point of Surgical Care?"

Dr. Oz’s advice has raised ethical questions about medicine as a profession, its evidentiary standards, and its role in maintaining public trust.

Plastic surgeons who use patient images for online advertising should ensure informed consent and not exploit the patient-physician relationship for gain.

Monitoring surgeons’ capacities over time are rooted in professional duties to protect patients’ safety. Aging surgeons should undergo assessments and be encouraged to stop practicing before their diminished skill becomes too risky.

Plastic surgeons’ use of patient images on social media should conform to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ advertising and image use guidelines.

Social and cultural influences significantly contribute to our conceptions of healthy and pathological anatomy, and surgeons play critical roles in how these influences are expressed in clinical settings and social media.

The authors address the medical ethics question of whether autopsy is necessary from Cartesian and sociocultural perspectives and how to obtain consent.

More frequent use of robotic-assisted surgeries means we need to ask more questions about care quality and equity, informed consent, and conflicts of interest.