Friday, March 23, 2007

Doctors Dishing the Dirt


"I informed a patient's parents that we would call them when their child was off the heart bypass machine and back in the intensive care unit. That went down like a lead balloon as the child was in fact having spinal surgery. Oops...." (From http://mediblogopathy.blogspot.com)

An article in the Washington Post today examines the troubling trend of doctors blogging about their patients (sometimes rather harshly and crudely). The phenomenon is so new that medical boards, schools and professionals disagree on what is acceptable. The trend is troubling because not only because of the risk of compromising patient privacy but also because of potential liability for hospitals. I certainly could envision lawsuits -- can't you just see the latest lawyer ads? (Is your doctor talking about you behind your back? Dial 1-888-SueTheBastards or visit our website at www.SueTheBastards.com!)

For more on this (the Washington Post article, that is), click here.

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