Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION June 2017 17 There are five full-page portraits with background colors calculatedly cool with rich blue-grays and curren- cy greens. Despite wide, engaging smiles, none of the subjects show forehead wrinkles. Three wear impossibly white lab coats embla- zoned with their names. The other two sport impeccably tailored suit jackets. Props range from the de rigueur neck-wrapped stethoscope, a plastic lumbosacral spine to a carefully cradled heart model. All are highly-compensated proceduralists; cognitives need not apply. The reader is assured "each doctor has been peer-nominated and selected by the nation's leading providers of information on top doc- tors" (my italics). We are promised they are all board certified. The right margin lists additional special- ists, their addresses, office phone numbers, and websites. In smaller italics, the aforementioned leading providers of information are noted: Castle Connolly, Super Doctors, Best Doctors Inc., New York Magazine, Living Magazine and D (for Dallas) Magazine. The feature is produced by TheBestDocs.com. Tallest, shortest, youngest, oldest—reasonably straightforward. Best? That's slippery. Even sport leagues shy away from such conten- tious terminology preferring "Most Valuable" instead of "Best." Auda- cious Hollywood flaunts its usage by naming Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Makeup, and so forth. All candidates are based on a perfor- mance, a one-time event judged against similar offerings. Even with- in these parameters, controversy is inevitable. But choosing a surgeon can be a wrenching ordeal that leaves laymen confused and feeling powerless. Prior to Bates v. State Bar of Arizona adjudicated by the United States Supreme Court in 1977, self-promo- tional advertising was deemed un- professional if not unethical. A trust- ed family doctor usually oversaw the referral process. Ethical malfeasance was possible—a preferred bone-set- ter could be a brother-in-law—but unlikely. Today, ethicists worry that surgeons are identified, compared, and selected on the basis of these "Best" designations plastered across A clarion call for restraint in the use of meaningless superlatives when promoting providers and procedures to patients O n a recent flight, my middle seat friend whose degree in philosophy was earned at one of America's elite institutions flipped through American Way Magazine. "Would you go to one of these guys?" I shifted my gaze from the iPad to the periodical and scrutinized an attractive face with eyes as inscru- table as the Mona Lisa's. The bold header proclaimed her among "The Best Plastic Surgeons in America." "Why?" I asked. "Because they're the best. The ad says so." Glancing to his face, I saw a self-satisfied smirk and said, "Then let me ask you another question. Why do you think this airline rec- ommends these physicians?" "For the money, of course," he said. "OK, then why does the com- pany marketing these docs pay big bucks to American Airlines?" "Two reasons: a lot of high net- worth passengers with discretionary income and a captive audience." "And why would this doctor want her picture in a magazine featuring Brazilian steak houses and luxury retirement communities?" After a pause, he responded, "Everyone has their demons." by J.C. Noreika, MD, MBA A trophy for everyone 3360 Scherer Drive, Suite B, St. Petersburg, FL 33716 800-637-4346 • Tel: 727-209-2244 • Fax: 727-341-8123 Email: Info@RheinMedical.com • Website: www.RheinMedical.com Botticelli, Madonna of Pomegranate Premium Resposable Blades ABBH 1376 Rev.A Call 727-209-2244 For More Information. 1 0 - 3 01 4 - P 1 0 - 0 25 0 - P 1 0 - 0 28 0 - P 1 0 - 0 21 5 - P 1 0 - 0 22 0 - P 1 0 - 2 53 2 - P 1 0 -1 0 - 30 07- P 1 0 - 0 22 5 - P 1 0 - 3 00 9 - P Our New Premium Resposable Blades Offer New Geometry To Provide The Most Resistant Free Incision Creation Possible With A Stainless Blade. Specially Designed Handle Improves Ergonomics. Fron t Vie w O f G eo metr y continued on page 18 J.C. Noreika, MD, MBA Insights

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