I was struck by a story recently featured on Kevin, MD (interesting comments on this post as well). A patient in California goes to a plastic surgeon, has a procedure, and is not satisfied with the results. So, what does she do? She tells everybody about it. But, here's the twist, she's using the internet, with an interesting website name, to express her opinion.
This story has been going through my head, especially with my recent experience with "the haters." And, I apologize to those of you out there who are sick and tired of me talking about this. But, there is going to be a time, sooner than I think, that a patient around here is going to find out that the wildly popular (LOL) Dr. A is their physician.
According to this news story, patients are well within their 1st Amendment rights to express whatever they want about poor medical care. But, physicians are not able to respond because of the federal privacy rules. That's kind of scary if you ask me.
Now, trying a case in the court of public opinion is not a new thing. I realize people have been doing this forever. But, now, this takes on an interesting twist when the internet is involved. Potentially having my name and reputation smeared internationally is not something that I thought of when I applied to medical school.
Finally, on a lighter note, and from the "Dr. A is a hypocrite file" (*cough*), here is a video blog (not by me), talking about her adventures with her favorite cellular phone company (at least she's not talking about me). Enjoy!