A patient’s hidden recording of the office visit was used as evidence:
The patient in this case suspected miscommunication between her and her physician and returned, armed with a hidden tape recorder, to question him. She produced the tape during the ensuing litigation and used it to discredit Dr. H’s testimony. Taping your own conversations is legal in most states. Given the success of this strategy, physicians can expect to be recorded more often, adding to their stress over possible litigation and further eroding the physician-patient relationship.
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{ 7 comments }
So the moral of the story is talk to your patients less, as anything you say can and will be used against you. Did the patient inform you of your Miranda rights? Real criminals at least receive this protection.
Lesson #2 is move away from any states that allow this chicanery.
Lesson #3 is to install a metal detector at your front desk and confiscate all cell phones, tape recorders, and yes, guns that patients may bring to appointments as a condition of being seen.
“Evidence” like tape recordings can be challenged no different than any other kind of “documentation.” “Did you tape every encounter with your doctor? Did
you tape all your telephhone calls?” And so forth.
In my state, it is illegal to make recordings without informing the other party that they are being recorded.
That being said, I had a patient tape me once during a pre-operative counseling session. I never worry, though. I always give it to them straight, including the best-case and worst-case outcomes, and non-surgical alternatives. I operated on this man. He did well and was happy.
“The patient, suspecting miscommunication, returned with a tape recorder…”
Most reasonable people, suspecting miscommunication would seek to communicate, and continue to pursue clarity until they are certain that the proposed actions will produce the desired result. This woman seems to have armed herself for litigation to come rather than prevent the actions that she would later declare to be malpractice. This seems like a case of someone cutting off their nose in spite of their face as it were.
can anyone give me a list of the states in which this kind of unconsented taping is legally permissible?
does it then follow that I as aphysician can tape unconsented encounters with my patients?
I know docs who use tape their informed consent. It is ridiculous that it has come to this; I believe it is paranoid and a sign of the damage done to the physician-patient relationship by untoward legal events. I sincerely believe these docs have patients’ best interests at heart, but have been burned and damaged at a psychic level, even if it is just fear of a suit. It is my belief that when it comes to this, it is time to move on or retire. It is simply not enjoyable to take care of others at this level of distrust. Much like a prenuptial agreement, I’m sure such taping has the blessing of insurers and defense attorneys. To me it ensures a mutual feeling of distrust and undermines the physician-patient relationship.
I had a patient’s family ask/attempt to tape an informed consent discussion for their child’s leukemia treatment. While I certainly understand that during times like this parents may not be able to absorb everything that I’m telling them and want something to refer to, I feel that I should serve that purpose, not a tape of my voice. I also encourage parents to bring whomever else they feel they need into these discussions, to serve as an objective set of ears and to be a ’scribe’ to take notes. I also make sure that parents get a copy of the (very in-depth) written informed consent document to read, and I insist that they take at least a few hours to read it before I re-approach them to answer questions and have them sign it.
In the end, I was entirely uncomfortable with the idea of this discussion being recorded and told them so. They had no problems with that.
the medical world has brought this upon itself. just like all the rest. Don’t doctor record what they tell patient for the same reason? I know that I as leave the doctor ,doctor goes into his personal office and talks into a mic. For the same reasons, the doctor may not trust his patients. And if a doctor feels that the patient may not need to record to make sure of what was said, if patient has an early am doctor visit then on to work. Do you think the patient is going to recall every thing said at 9 am now at 7 pm. Then find a doctor who is sure of themselves, and has nothing to hide.
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