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Clinical photography is an important tool for medical practice, training and research. While in the past clinical pictures were confined to the stringent controls of surgeries and hospitals technological advances have made possible to take pictures and share them through the internet with only a few clicks. Confronted with this possibility I explore if a case could be made for using clinical photography in tandem with social media. In order to do this I explore: (1) if patient's informed consent is required for the publication of any clinical images that depicts her, irrespective of whether the patient can be identified from the image or not, (2) if social media is an adequate place for clinical images to be displayed, and finally (3) if there are special considerations that should be taken into account when publishing clinical images on social media.

Original publication

DOI

10.1007/s11019-014-9580-y

Type

Journal article

Journal

Med Health Care Philos

Publication Date

02/2015

Volume

18

Pages

63 - 70

Keywords

Confidentiality, Humans, Informed Consent, Photography, Social Media