The next phase, going from validated new procedure/approach to broader adoption, has its own ethical issues. During my medical training I scrubbed into three su

The next phase, going from validated new procedure/approach to broader adoption, has its own ethical issues. During my medical training I scrubbed into three surgeries that should have been routine, but where an experienced surgeon decided to try a new approach that he had heard about. All three cases went wrong, and one was near-fatal. Fortunately, there were no long term consequences. Learning new techniques in a field that requires hands on training with real patients who are entrusting their lives to the experience of the surgeon is a constant balancing act. It's the same with training new surgical residents -- which Atul Gawande also discusses in one of his earlier books, Complications.