Posted by Dr. Bob on February 2, 2000, at 19:45:50
In reply to Re: e-health ethics, posted by Noa on February 2, 2000, at 5:33:56
> Because a counselor would be unable to confirm whether a client is a minor, what would the counselor's responsibility be if a minor portrayed him or herself as an adult?
Good question. I think it'll depend on whether the counselor made a good enough attempt to confirm that the client was an adult. One thing a counselor could do is ask to speak with the client's primary care physician. I'd consider that pretty reliable. Or the client could fax the counselor identification. Or there could be a question on a form on a web page. What's good enough? I don't think that's clear yet.
Is it true that one needs to be 18 to get a credit card? If so, it might be good enough for the counselor to ask for a credit card number, which he or she might be doing, anyway, to get paid...
Also, for there to be malpractice, something needs to go wrong. If a minor says he or she is an adult, but gets better, there's no malpractice case.
> Also, a question: The two organizations that are putting these suggestions together, how do they relate to the summit on internet health? Is the summit solely concerning provision of health services via email, or is it covering other internet health information services, too.
Neither ISMHO nor PSI are sponsors, though at least one ISMHO member is attending. I don't know much about what they're addressing, but I bet they're covering advertising: part of what prompted the whole thing was the controversy over drkoop.com. Isn't there more information at the web site?
> Finally, Dr. Bob, I am so impressed. You are doing so much. Do you ever have time to sleep?
Thanks! I do get to sleep some, but not enough. :-(
Bob
poster:Dr. Bob
thread:20293
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000128/msgs/20397.html