Doctors Told to Ignore Facebook Come-ons
Posted on 03. Dec, 2009 in News Stories
Since we’ve had several cases already that dealt with the inability of doctors to control their sexual urges, we find a recommendation put forth by UK’s Medical Defense Union (MDU) quite interesting.
Related Case Studies
Poor Carol, developmentally disabled and experiencing back pain, all she wanted to do was get better. Instead, she wound up experiencing a lot more than Medicaid would pay for. A lot more…
Dr. Blum just couldn’t resist his sexual urges–taking things just a bit too far.
Dr. Tode just couldn’t keep his hands (and other body parts) to himself. He went way beyond his duty and made “house calls” to “check up” on his patients. What did he do? Read more to unravel the story…
MDU, a non-profit organization that seeks to “defend the professional reputations of our members when their clinical performance is called into question,” warns physicians that they should not respond to advances by patients on social networking sites–not even to politely say “no.”
Dr. Emma Cuzner, a MDU medico-legal advisor, writes, “The pitfalls posed to doctors using social networking sites by inadvertently breaching confidentiality or posting unprofessional content, such as photos, have been well documented.”
Although doctors may feel rude not to reply, even to just politely refuse, Dr. Cuzner writes that because “this is not a professional route of communication, any correspondence of this sort would clearly stray outside the doctor/patient relationship.”
These recommendations raise some important questions. What should a doctor do if she were to see a patient at the local Starbucks and he asks her if he could buy her a drink? Should the doctor simply turn around and pretend not to hear him? Why would the internet be different?
As we move through an era where access becomes nearly instantaneous and pervasive, these issues will become more and more evident as we continue to struggle with blending advances in communication technology, work ethics, and private social life.
