An overview of Maine's pilot program to reduce the practice of defensive medicine in certain specialties by assuring legal protection for doctors who follow particular guidelines and discussion of why it was not used in malpractice litigation.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;13(11):792-795. doi:
10.1001/virtualmentor.2011.13.11.pfor1-1111.
The author explains why ear reconstruction is not enhancement surgery, and argues that the American system of health care reimbursement sometimes makes advocating for reimbursement part of treatment.
Though body size can be altered with environmental or behavioral changes, anatomic shape, which appears to be genetically determined, cannot be changed except by surgery, trauma, or illness.
The proliferation of enhancement technologies and pharmacological agents has perpetuated the view of American doctors and patients of medical care as a market commodity driven by what consumers want and are willing to pay for.
Suggests to medical students what forms of self-disclosure are acceptable during clinical encounters and when self-disclosure might be interpreted by patients as taking attention away from them.