An anesthesiologist in Assuta Hospital in Ashdod finds himself in hot water after he took a selfie with an anesthetized patient before performing surgery. Making things worse, a selfie video of him intubating the patient was uploaded to the internet. It was the first operation taking place in the new operating room and the surgeon decided this would be an appropriate way of memorializing the event, Yisrael Hayom reported.

Chairman of the Israel Medical Association Board of Ethics Dr. Tami Karni stated “A physician is not permitted to expose her patient for doing so is a violation of patient confidentiality and deemed unacceptable behavior”.

Karni adds that even if consent was given in advance, this does not give a doctor the right to publish the photo without consent, adding the case at hand is more serious since the patient is identifiable.

The Ethics Committee will continue its probe and determine what action, if any, will be taken.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)