Comment on Palma and Rosenbaum: “The ethical challenge of surgical innovation”

Abstract

We read with surprise and disappointment last April’s editorial by Drs. Paulo Palma and Tomas Rosenbaum regarding “ethics and surgical innovation” [1]. In one of its last paragraphs the question is posed, “and what about publications with a mean follow–up of as short as 2 months?”—indicating in the bibliography our article, published in the May 2008 edition of Actas Urologicas Espanolas [2]. It is evident that the authors, Palma and Rosenbaum, were not diligent enough to read the article. The article was clearly presented as a review of an initial experiment with a new minisling system for the surgical treatment of urinary incontinence in women and its short-term results. It is not the intention of the article to report on case follow-ups, as explicitly described both in the full text and abstract. Furthermore, the Actas Urologicas Espanolas review board published the article in question without reservations, taking the established objectives into account. Dr. Paulo Palma today is a member of the editorial board. In addition to this, we would like to point out to the readers that the follow-up report of the original article appeared in the June 2009 edition of Archivos Espanoles de Urologia, volume 62, no. 5. This article analyses 110 cases with a mean follow-up of 8 months and a maximum follow-up of 19 months [3]. Our Urogynecological Unit, which is part of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of the Clinica Las Condes in Santiago de Chile, accredited by the International Joint Commission and associated with Johns Hopkins Hospital, has been characterized for over 6 years by its never-ending contribution of our experience to national and foreign publications and by the active participation of its members in many academic activities of our specialty (IUGA, AAGL, ICS, etc.). Because of the foregoing and considering that there was unjustified harm to our professional practice, we formally request the corresponding clarifications and apologies of Drs. Palma and Rosenbaum through this same publication, and we express our appreciation to this publication in advance for the opportunity that it affords us to clarify this unfortunate episode.