When colleagues request treatment that is not medically indicated, clinicians should show empathy and respect without compromising judgment.

Is it ethical to create and advertise, either publicly or during office visits, package deals that offer patients an incentive to have procedures they are not already seeking and might not have considered?

Within the patient-physician relationship, the request for neuroenhancement becomes a chief concern, and the physician has a duty to take a history and perform a physical exam to determine whether the patient’s current level of function represents significant change.

Some question whether plastic surgeons bear responsibility for promoting suspect norms of beauty, given that certain types of cosmetic enhancements reinforce common conceptions of normality that are harmful to society.

Because regulatory approval of cognitive enhancement drugs is likely, physicians may want to consider whether they would condone the practice for restoration of function only or for enhancement purposes as well.

Putting the interest of patients first means attending to what the patient thinks is most important as well as treating medically significant symptoms and conditions.

Putting the interest of patients first means attending to what the patient thinks is most important as well as treating medically significant symptoms and conditions.