I learned several things this weekend about fishing in Florida: (1) never book a fishing trip around the opening day of hurricane season and (2) lots of big blogging news occurs when you're away from a computer, even for a little while.
What I have derived from this whole Flea malpractice blogging debacle was that it was a mess: for him, for the family of the child involved in the personal injury lawsuit, and for the medical blog-o-sphere. Medical bloggers the world over have learned a great deal at Flea's expense. Life's lessons, unfortunately, are not always pretty.
But I have faith that the medical blogging community today will not wither from public writing for fear of litigious retribution. Doctor- and nurse-bloggers remain a potent voice of reason in the healthcare and healthcare delivery debate. Their opinions and insights coupled with timely and insightful commentary by others can quickly question the status quo, offer constructive criticism of poor research or medical technologies, support or defile federal or state healthcare policies, or clarify health care topics for the very patients we treat.
Who will serve as the best advocate for patients: hospital administration, lawyers, politicians, insurance providers, or doctors and nurses?
-Wes
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