In 2016, the Boston Globe Spotlight Team highlighted the practice of senior surgeons monitoring more than one operating room at the same time. It was labeled “simultaneous surgery,” or “concurrent surgery.” In response, the public got angry. Patients were worried their surgeon simply wouldn’t be able to concentrate on their case. Surgeons were accused of greed and indifference. Even the Senate Finance Committee scrutinized, reviewed, and otherwise weighed in on the crusade. In the end, the panel called for a ban specifically on simultaneous surgery.

As a result of all this, hospitals and training programs around the country began cracking down on the practice, significantly reducing or even prohibiting senior surgeons from supervising more than one operating room at a time. But this sensational reaction is inappropriate and potentially damaging to both medical providers and patients.