Editor’s note: The following comments were received regarding recent articles published in the Bulletin.
Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, e-mail address, and daytime telephone number via e-mail to dschneidman@facs.org, or via mail to Diane Schneidman, Editor-in-Chief, Bulletin, American College of Surgeons, 633 N. Saint Clair St., Chicago, IL 60611.
Letters may be edited for length or clarity. Permission to publish letters is assumed unless the author indicates otherwise.
Google Glass liability risks
I am writing in response to the letter by Thomas R. McLean, MD, JD, FACS, published in the September 2014 Bulletin (Bull Am Coll Surg. 2014;99[9]:66). Although I retired from urology before the development of Google Glass, the majority of my procedures were performed endoscopically with a camera. All these procedures were recorded electronically and stored in a way that protected patient confidentiality. Although they were never required in court, fortunately (no medical liability experience), I reviewed the tapes as a learning tool for new camera-assisted procedures, such as laparoscopy, laser procedures, and so on. If one is required to go to court, a video copy of the procedure reveals far more than an operative report, and if the procedure was done properly, then any complication may be more readily understood as such rather than as gross negligence.
Jerry Frankel, MD, FACS
Plano, TX
Gloving technique
I am writing with regard to the cover of the November 2014 Bulletin (Bull Am Coll Surg. 2014;99[11]). When we are teaching sterile techniques worldwide, why show incorrect donning or removing surgical gloves? The correct application should avoid the thumb contamination, both in putting on and taking off surgical gloves. This is basic sterile technique, which all health care professionals should follow.
Alan S. Rapperport, MD, FACS
Coral Gables, FL
Electronic health record
I found it interesting, perhaps telling, that “The e-volution of the 21st century surgeon” (Bull Am Coll Surg. 2014;99[8]:42-48) made no mention of the electronic health record. It is distressing to me that surgeons in our community who are eager to adopt advanced surgical hardware and techniques are the same ones who are refusing to learn and use electronic medical record systems.
Name withheld upon request
Oregon Fellow of the ACS
