The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) plans to issue an advisory to doctors asking them to refrain from posting visuals of their surgical work on social networking sites like Facebook.
The trend has been catching up of late as doctors find it as the best way for self-promotion. Many doctors justify the act saying they have the permission from patients.
The MMC has now made it clear: no more posting of surgery visuals – with or without the permission of patients. It's a breach of the Medical Council of India's (MCI) code of conduct.
Snake and scorpio venom vaccine researcher Dr Himmatrao Bawaskar, who fought the practice of doctors getting cuts through referrals, said: "This is completely unethical."
Is there any exception to the rule?
Doctors can use pictures of surgical work without revealing patient identity in scientific journals and for medical education with patient permission. Posting visuals on social networking websites is completely unethical. "Every doctor knows that patient privacy is very important. It is taught in MBBS course," said Dr Kishor Taori, president, MMC.
What does the law say?
"The Medical Council of India Act came into force in 1956 and the rules and regulation of medical ethics and etiquette were amended in 2002. That time, there was no social networking site. Now, there is a need to change the law. We will also talk to IMA," Dr Taori said. MMC enjoys the power to suspend a doctor's licence if s/he is found guilty. Only doctors registered with MMC can practise in Maharashtra. Over 70,000 doctors are registered with MMC.
Can patients complain?
Yes. Patients can file complaints against doctors if they feel their identities are being revealed, said Dr Taori. "Anything revealing patient identity has to be with his consent. But we have seen lots of doctors in Maharashtra sharing patient stories and surgical work online," he said.
Do patients give consent?
That's what many docs say. But recently, one Chennai-based surgeon had to tender an apology and remove visuals of a surgery from a site after the patient objected. Three Kerala-based doctors were suspended last year after they posted the visual of a Cesarean procedure on WhatsApp. In this case, the woman had given birth to triplets. Recently, one surgeon from Thane posted one picture on WhatsApp, and we had to apologise, said Dr Shivkumar Utture, central working committee member, IMA.
