How to limit medicolegal “scarring” in dermatology?

Abstract

The field of dermatology, and pigmentary disorders, specifically, has undergone a sea of positive changes since the turn of this millennium. The flip side to this change has been the influx of law into the realms of dermatology. Ego medicolegal issues are on the rise, caused by a variety of factors: the rise of interventional procedures, overpromising and underdelivering by physicians, quackery, and Internet awareness, to name but a few. Needless to say, a dermatology practitioner today will most likely be introduced to the medicolegal world, given the increased incidence of the aforementioned. And it is common knowledge that medical schools and residency colleges do not cater to these specific needs of medicolegal education even though serious efforts are being made to bridge this gap.

Keywords

• Medicolegal
• ethics
• dermatology
• pigmentary disorders
• vitiligo