Friday, March 23, 20073
Webcam in the hospital room shockwaves
Sam Blackman's blog entry (no longer posted) has stirred some controversy, with a prominent pickup in the Boston Herald:
A nurse’s discovery of a Webcam hooked up by parents in their child’s Boston hospital room has stunned the patient’s doctor, raised a mound of privacy issues and potentially left medical staff looking over their shoulders.
Dr. Samuel Blackman, a pediatric oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, would not speak for the record when contacted by the Herald about the incident at Children’s Hospital.
But in an entry on his blog titled “Hemorrhage! You’re On Candid Camera,” Blackman strongly questioned the use of the camera in the child’s room, asking, “Should parents have the right to a hospital version of a NannyCam?”
Comments
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William, The Doctor Job Blog
That was an interesting post, and there was some good commentary on there, but one troll ruined it by being rude and obnoxious.
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Anonymous
I would simply refuse to treat them or any of their family members again.
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Anonymous
Why should the doctor object? As it is, they are not subject to random substance abuse testing, and we all know about the white wall of silence. If a doctor makes a blatant mistake, hospital personnel are too afraid to report him or her for fear of losing their own job, so what recourse do the patients have? Lawyers won't take a case on contingency unless they are certain there will be a big payout for them. If you don't pay your bill due to being ignored or because of poor treatment or mistakes, the doctor has a collection agency behind them to make sure you do. In the case of a child who cannot defend himself or question what is being done to him I think the webcam is one way of protecting him when he is alone in a hospital room with no parents present.
Post a Comment »3:28 PM
I have rights too.
Familydoc
1:05 AM
11:59 AM