Abstract
The last two decades have seen remarkable advances in and acceptance of bariatric surgery. These advances include quality assurance, certification of surgeons and their institutions and the development of national bariatric registries. Yet, in spite of these advances, an urgent need to improve ethical standards in bariatric surgery remains. In particular, surgical innovation must be subjected to adequate scrutiny and sufficient safeguards. New procedures and the processes by which they are assessed should be subject to review and approval by the ethics committees operating under clearly defined guidelines. The public must be able to have confidence that the surgery itself, and the innovative practices that are introduced within it, are not subject to distortions associated with personal, wider professional, industry or institutional interests.
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Conflict of Interest
Prof. John Dixon acts as a consultant for Allergan Inc., and Metagenics Inc.; is a member of the Optifast Medical Advisory Board for Nestle Australia; has received honoraria from iNova Pharmaceuticals and research grants from Allergan Inc. None of these entities had any input in the current review. Dr. Logue and Professor Komesaroff have no relevant disclosures.
Funding
Prof. Dixon is supported by a Senior Research Fellowship from the National Health & Medical Research Council of Australia. The authors did not receive any external funding for the preparation of this review.
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Dixon, J.B., Logue, J. & Komesaroff, P.A. Promises and Ethical Pitfalls of Surgical Innovation: the Case of Bariatric Surgery. OBES SURG 23, 1698–1702 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-013-1049-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-013-1049-1