3 NOVEMBER 2023

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Paul Smith and Carmel Sparke SHOULD doctors be banned from looking up a patient on Facebook or Instagram or watching their TikToks ?

Is this an unethical act if it is about gaining insight to help you as a clinician ?

A debate has broken out about the rights and wrongs of googling patients without their knowledge .

Privacy campaigners , ethics experts and medical defence lawyers say doctors need clear guidelines on looking up information about their patients online .

The BMJ recently interviewed a UK junior doctor working in ED who had taken the history of an HIV-positive patient who told her she was an office administrator . A quick google at home revealed to the doctor that the patient was an “ adult film performer ”.

“ My instinct told me there was more ,” the unnamed doctor told the journal .

“ It raised questions : Was she still working in that industry ? Was the sex protected ? Were they testing her regularly ?

“ I also knew she wasn ’ t taking her antiretroviral drugs .”

Another doctor said she had googled a patient out of frustration following a shift in ED in which she suspected the patient of faking a seizure for attention . The doctor said the patient had posted pictures of herself in hospital on social media , claiming to be there

A quick google showed they were an ‘ adult film performer ’.

for a terminal cancer diagnosis .

While the doctor said she had no regrets , Sam Smith , a policy lead for medConfidential , a UK organisation that campaigns for improved confidentiality and consent , described it as “ despicable ”.

“ How do we know there is no harm being caused by this deception ?” he told The BMJ .

“ We don ’ t know who is doing this and what decisions are affected . It is an awful breach of public trust .”

The view in Australia , at least among doctors , seems to be that the information posted by the PAGE 3

Kemal Atlay PATIENTS with average bowel cancer risk are now recommended to start two-yearly screening at age 45 rather than 50 .

Those aged 40-44 , instead of 45-49 , will also be able to request screening via their GP prior to receiving their first National Bowel Cancer Screening Program invitation .

The updated guidelines , published by Cancer Council Australia last week , lower the age threshold for screening to align with US recommendations .

“ We are now calling on the Federal Government to approve , fund and implement a lower screening start age to stop people dying from early-onset bowel cancer ,” says Julien Wiggins , CEO of the national charity and advocacy group Bowel Cancer Australia .

‘ Youthfulness should not be a barrier to timely diagnosis .’

NEWS , PAGE 4

Women , including Naja Lyberth , were fitted with IUDs without their knowledge .

“ Youthfulness should not be a barrier to timely diagnosis , so it is equally imperative the updated guidance for people aged 40-44 is implemented by healthcare professionals .”

More than 1700 Australians younger than 50 are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year , with those in the 40-49 age group accounting for half of new cases in under-50s .

An estimated 64 % of patients who die from bowel cancer are diagnosed before the age of 50 . “ We still don ’ t know why younger people are getting bowel cancer ,” says Associate PAGE 2