title: The ethics of reality medical television.
abstract: Reality medical television, an increasingly popular genre, depicts private medical moments between patients and healthcare providers. Journalists aim to educate and inform the public, while the participants in their documentaries-providers and patients-seek to heal and be healed. When journalists and healthcare providers work together at the bedside, moral problems precipitate. During the summer of 2010, ABC aired a documentary, Boston Med, featuring several Boston hospitals. We examine the ethical issues that arise when journalism and medicine intersect. We provide a framework for evaluating the potential benefits and harms of reality medical television, highlighting critical issues such as informed consent, confidentiality, and privacy.
authors: Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. thalia.margalit@gmail.com
authors: Thalia Margalit
authors: TM
authors: Krakower
authors: Martha
authors: M
authors: Montello
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: Mitchell
authors: Robert D
authors: RD
authors: Truog
mesh_terms: D001900:Boston; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000941:ethics*; D006761:Hospitals / Q000941:ethics / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000941:ethics*; D018156:Journalism, Medical; D016743:Mental Competency; D033282:Parental Consent / Q000941:ethics; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology; D018907:Privacy; D011639:Public Opinion; D013690:Television / Q000941:ethics* / Q000639:trends; D020458:Third-Party Consent / Q000941:ethics; D014342:Truth Disclosure / Q000941:ethics*; D014743:Videotape Recording / Q000941:ethics* / Q000639:trends; D014838:Volunteers