An interesting warning has been issued to doctors in England by a medical organization that advises physicians on how to avoid medical malpractice lawsuits, but perhaps it is just a sign of the times.  They are reminding doctors of the dangers of online flirting with patients on social networking websites.

The Medical Defense Union is addressing the increasing popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace and urging doctors who choose to be “friends” with patients on such networks to be careful about their conduct.

The organization’s warning reminds physicians that flirting with patients can raise ethical questions because of their role of trust in society.  It points out that these online connections sometimes blur the boundaries between doctor and patient, and could end up resulting in a medical malpractice lawsuit when these lines are crossed.

Likewise, remember that as a patient, anything you share on the internet, regardless of the site’s so-called privacy settings, can end up being used against you.  Medical malpractice cases are a good example of this, since many a defense attorney has been able to shed a negative light on a plaintiff by accessing something they posted online and thought was protected.  Always keep this in mind, particularly if you are involved in any type of legal action.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 12:25 pm and is filed under Medical Malpractice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.