The Society of Thoracic Surgeons recognizes the important ethical obligations members have to their patients, other health care professionals, and the medical community in general. The Standards and Ethics Committee, under the direction of the STS Board of Directors, represents STS in matters relating to standards of conduct in the specialty, medical ethics, and discipline involving Society members.

Expert Witness Program

Since 2003, STS has been very active in promoting fair and ethical physician expert witness testimony. Central components of this initiative are:

Ethics Complaints

Pursuant to the Procedural Guidelines for Handling Ethics Complaints Against STS Members, the Committee is responsible for handling all ethics complaints that touch upon alleged violations of other Society policies, including the Statement on the Physician Acting As An Expert Witness and the Code of Ethics.

For more information regarding the Standards and Ethics Committee or the Society's initiatives in the ethics arena, please contact us.