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A comatose, ventilator-dependent, car accident victim lies in an intensive care unit while her husband and her parents discuss her future quality of life and argue about what type of care she would have wanted. This scenario may initially come to mind when the average person hears the term medical ethics. However, the concept of medical ethics is much more common in everyday practice than a dramatic ICU clash is.

The number of medical spas (also referred to as medi-spas or medspas) has been increasing as the desire for cosmetic procedures increases.¹ A medical spa combines the atmosphere and traditional offerings of a day spa (e.g., facials, massages, manicures) with the provision of medical treatments such as injectable facial fillers (e.g., Botox), laser procedures, and even liposuction.

Generally speaking, once a physician-patient relationship is established, the physician has an ongoing responsibility to the patient until the relationship is properly terminated. Improper termination can result in a patient abandonment claim.

Physicians’ and dentists’ personal interests and opinions can sometimes expose their practices to unwanted attention, particularly with the rate information travels today. For example, the recent negative publicity surrounding a Minnesota dentist whose hunting pastime made worldwide news, resulted in backlash that disrupted his practice. The overwhelming negative attention led to shutting down his professional social media accounts, practice website and the doors to his practice during this frenzy. The flood of negative comments online, directed at him personally, now sit side by side with reviews of his professional ability on third-party rating and review websites. This may be an extreme scenario, but it does illustrate the power of how online reviews and commentary can affect a physician and his or her practice. Because of this, proactive steps should be taken by health care providers to safeguard their practice from negative online publicity or comments that may occur.

A radiologist is an inevitable defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a radiology “miss,” but any physician who fails to communicate or act on a critical radiological finding is also a potential defendant.