The AANS leadership is extremely proud of the AANS professional conduct program and the service that it provides to our members. It is important to emphasize, as Russell Pelton did in the cover story, the fact that the scope of the program goes well beyond the narrow issue of inappropriate or unethical expert witness testimony. It is true that, for practical reasons, most of the cases investigated by this committee have involved expert witness testimony; however, the intention all along has been for this committee to concern itself with any complaints of professional misconduct brought by an AANS member against another member. As part of our long-range planning, I am heading a task force that is precisely looking at the question of whether there is a need to expand the committee’s involvement with issues of misconduct other than inappropriate medical legal testimony and, if so, if there is a practical way to do so. To this effect, comments and suggestions directly from members are appreciated.
Roberto C. Heros, MD, is president-elect of the AANS.