Emily Birnbaum reports: A group of patients and health data experts is accusing Facebook of misleading users about how their personal health information can be manipulated and exposed without patients’ explicit permission. In a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint released publicly on Tuesday, the group alleges that Facebook prompts its users to join online medical support groups under the guise that they are…
Category: Healthcare
Ex-Vanderbilt doctor, accused of snooping in ex-wife’s medical records, sues hospital for not defending him
Brett Kelman reports: A former Vanderbilt University Medical Center doctor who is accused of using his hospital privileges to snoop into the private medical records of his ex-wife has filed a lawsuit against the hospital for refusing to defend him in court. Dr. Douglas Burka, who was a surgical resident at Vanderbilt from 2010 to 2012,…
NL: Major privacy breach: students could access hospital medical records
Ugh.DutchNews.nl reports: Students working for extra cash at Amsterdam’s OLVG hospital group have for years been given complete access to the medical records system, allowing them to read personal information about friends, family and famous people, the Volkskrant said on Friday. The leak was made public by a philosophy student who made telephone appointments for…
Facebook screens posts for suicide risk, and health experts have concerns
Jacqueline Howard reports: A pair of public health experts has called for Facebook to be more transparent in the way it screens posts for suicide risk and to follow certain ethical guidelines, including informed consent among users. The social media giant details its suicide prevention efforts online and says it has helped first responders conduct…