Since When … ?
You know, I can’t help but wonder what “they” think they can do to our Dr. Flea.
1. He always said what he thought …
2. I’ve never seen him be “arbitrary.” He always had a reason for what he believed.
3. He based his beliefs on what he felt was best for his patients
4. He was always careful to not stomp on anyone else’s rights.
5. He blogged anonymously, for heaven’s sake! Anonymously!!!
6. He never named his patients … or posted anything we could identify them through.
When I stop to think of all of that, I can’t help but feel a little scared. If they can make Flea take down his blog, or make him feel as if he has to take down his blog, then I don’t think that any of us are safe.
I’m not anonymous … anyone who really wants to can find my name, place of birth, and the name of the town I live in, all buried in my blog. I’ve been as outspoken as our dear Flea, where my own areas of interest are concerned … …
Wait! What’s what you’re saying? You’re saying: “But MOOF! You’re NOT A DOCTOR!”
Ohhh yeah! That’s right! I’m not a doctor. I shouldn’t have to worry then, right? Give that some thought, people, because that’s even scarier …
If you and I can say what we want - unmolested - certain of our right to express ourselves, certain that what we say is not going to be used against us as long as we don’t harass or abuse other people, then why would belonging to medicine change the rules? Aren’t doctors allowed to have their say? How about anonymously???
If it doesn’t bother you, disturb you deeply, even frighten you, that in the US today, our physicians can’t even blog anonymously without facing some sort of legal retribution or inquiry, then you just don’t understand the implications of what’s happening.
This is not justice, friends. Since when does an entire class of people have to live in fear of expressing themselves openly in this country???
I’m going to research, and begin to keep a list of all of the physician bloggers (and nurses?) who’ve been forced to either quit blogging, or go private. I would like to know just how extensive this problem is. I would like to know how extensive OUR problem is - because when an entire class of people are oppressed, with their basic rights abridged, it’s our collective problem!
I’m going to become Detective Moof … (Hey! I like the sound of that! :o) … and I’ll report back with what I find. It may be time to start exposing those who would fatten themselves by feeding on people who spend their lives in service to others. Yes, mistakes happen, and sometimes - those mistakes can be tragic. Wherever there are human beings, there will be mistakes. I once had one doc tell me that he was convinced that my three other docs were “trying to do away with” me … imagine what a mean spirited person could have done with that! Wow! I’d be debt free, if I didn’t have a conscience … and some lawyer someplace would probably have a new boat.
Anyway, leave me comments on anyone you know who isn’t blogging anymore, or has gone private, and who is part of the medical profession. Let’s see what we discover …
May 17th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Moof, I couldn’t agree with you more. I also am not part of the medical community, other than, of course, being a patient. But, I see this as them having their basic rights, of freedon of speech, being taken away. Therefore, this should be a concern for all of us.
As for Dr. Flea, I do however think he closed his blog due to the trial that is currently going on. I imagine his attorney asked him to take it down. Considering the position he is in right now that may not have been a bad move. Hopefully, he will come back and explain it all to us once this is all over and settled. I think if his attorney read his blog its a given he would have MADE him take it down.
I have not EVER once read anything on any medical blog that would identify any patient. It is terrible they have to live with this fear.
As for telling you of one’s I know who have closed, I think you and I pretty much visit the same blogs, so most likely my list is the same as yours. I wont mention the ones I know you know about but I have always wondered what happened to Galen of “Galen’s Log”…Do you remember him? I know that I went to his blog one day (long time ago now) and he was gone. I dont remember if there was any explanation or not but I dont think there was. Another one I have been upset about is carrie at Neo nurse chic. It was really unfair the way she felt she had to close her blog. Another med blogger friend of mine just today posted she is going to slow down on her posts because she is afraid. She talks about another medical blogger friend of hers who had a post show up recently in a local newspaper. That person had been anonymous and someone made it their business to out them. What the hell is the matter with these people?
I think we should encourage everyone to not close their blog, but to stand up against this incredible unfairness, that seems to be taking control of the medical community.
Count me in as one who will fight for them!
May 17th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
BTW Moof, its OK to remove my old link to my old blog from your link list. That blog address has been hi-jacked so many times now, that it seems daily someone else is opening it up. Blogger keeps closing it and as soon as the address is available someone else grabs it up.Thats been an entire nightmare in itself!
May 17th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Well said (as usual)! Detective Moofie, huh? Can I be Columbo?
But seriously, I’m curious as well for that list of fallen medical bloggers. We always hear about the high profile ones like Flea and FD, but what about others who had a smaller audience, yet had to stop blogging as well. Good luck in your search!
May 17th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Let us not forget Neonatal Doc! He took down his blog after a troll hi-jacked the comment section, and he began to receive threats of a lawsuit from some wacked out yahoo group. This was also a hugh loss to the blogging community.
May 17th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Neonatal Doc says he’ll blog again. That’s what he told Ex Utero. And, the yahoo group wasn’t threatening him with legal action. The group was speaking of the troll who was blasting a certain commenter.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
[...] Since When…? - Moof. [...]
May 17th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Sarabeth, I hope that is true about neonatal Doc. I also hope the part about the lawsuit thing is correct. But, in his very last post “Hiatus” he stated this:
That statement pretty much implies that he certainly believed the threats were against him. I hope he has since found out that they were not. Thank you for giving us information that we would have had no other way of getting….:)
May 18th, 2007 at 1:14 am
Moof, I doubt that I know of anyone you don’t. (One case I know of was almost certainly for personal reasons, so I won’t mention it here.) But you’ve noticed a trend I’ve missed, and you’re right - it does scare me. Take away anyone’s freedom of speech, and pretty soon we’re all silenced. Have you considered contacting the Electronic Freedom Foundation? They support free speech, and might be inclined to help if you pointed them to this post.
As for Cathy’s first comment, I understand what she’s saying, and I’m not trying to argue with her. But I will add that, when we as a society reach a point where it is taken for granted that a person can have their attorney order them to take down a blog that shows no evidence of legal wrongdoing - then the lawyers have gained far too much power. They shouldn’t even be permitted to poke into someone’s blog unless there’s real evidence there. The rest of us should be free to blog as we please, as long as we harm no one.
I’m pretty busy right now, but if you need any help, let me know, and I’ll see what I can fit in.
Free speech is far more important than some “right to sue” that lets every spoiled brat with dreams of getting rich easily make a bigger and bigger mess of society. In those cases (and there are some; doctors and nurses are human like everyone else) where there is real justification for a lawsuit, there’s no need to go fishing for straws - there will be real evidence of real wrongdoing.
May 18th, 2007 at 3:10 am
WA, I agree with you about attorney’s, but it is YOUR attorney’s job to try and protect you. What I was saying, is that if his attorney had read his blog, he may have found reason to think some of what was said, could be used against him. Particularly, if the other side’s attorney’s would find and read his blog.
In that sense, and considering he wants to win this trial, his attorney may have asked him to remove it, or again, maybe not, who knows what happened for sure. It is just one possibility. Have you been reading at his blog? I think most people who have been a regular visitor and reader of Flea, knows that this is a very real possibility of what “may” have happened.
May 18th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
* Vitamin K - http://vitaminkmd.blogspot.com/
* PaedsRN - http://geeknurse.blogspot.com/
* Baby Medic - http://babymedic.blogspot.com/2007/03/problem.html (still blogging, but here is a post about some difficulties)
* PDXEMT - http://pdxemt.blogspot.com/index.html
* Kimberley - http://rnforyourlife.blogspot.com/ She stopped posting with this cryptic note, which is now gone from her site: “The Five Stages/or…the Most Important Post/The Jig is Up By kimberly OK, so back to Elizabeth Kubler Ross. For all of us medical people, and those interested…we know about the 5 stages of grief. I will only give you the basics here. I am closing this blog 1/17/07. There. It hits me and others (maybe) hard. I decided this yesterday morning. It is my baby, and it began with me with my beginning of nursing school. I am not giving the reasons here. But, there are…”
May 18th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
And - we just lost Dr. Dork this morning. His blog is now private. I just sent him a rather naked email. He’s a blogger I’ve admired for a very long time - his openness, his honesty - leave me breathless. I can’t imagine not being able to read his poetry anymore.
MamaMia … thank you, my dear. I’ll add those bloggers to my list. I sincerely hope that someone’s heard from Kimberly since that post - the Kubler Ross woman’s “Five Stages” are on death and dying.
There’s a pervasive darkness hanging over the medical blogosphere …
People! YO! Wake UP! We need to fight this thing!
May 18th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Cathy, when a member of the yahoo group saw what Neonatal Doc wrote in his hiatus post, she contacted me via email hoping I could get in touch with him. Ex Utero has kept ND’s identity secret from me as well, so I forwarded the member’s email, which stated that the threat of legal action was not towards him, to my husband.
I do think it is the lure of solving a mystery that leads people to attempt to “out” anonymous bloggers, such as was done to Fat Doctor.
May 18th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
It’s complicated….as a member of the medical profession I enjoy reading blogs from all the pieces of the health care system - MD, RN, nurses aides, specialists, and most importantly, patients and families. However, our right of free speech is not an unlimited one - i am free to express myself when, where, and how I choose, with a guarantee that my government will not infringe upon that right to free expression (unless it is considered treasonous…not going to go there.) But as an employee…..the issues are much less clear…HIPPA is very vaguely defined, so no one is really sure exactly WHAT to be afraid of, and it often becomes, in my opinion, a catch-all ‘excuse’ that allows access to information to be restricted in ways that often hinder efficient and thorough care. I have my own understanding of HIPPA, which is NOT the same as the opinions of my supervisors…and i am not sure any of the bloggers who have gone silent have WANTED to become a legal test case regarding what is a HIPPA violation, and what is communication that casts an employer such as a clinic or hospital in a bad light. Even on my own time, if others can reasonably know that I am both an employee of X and expressing significant criticisms of X,AND that someone communicates a report of my behaviors to someone in power over me at X,my continued employment at X may well be in jeopardy IF anyone in the chain of command over me feels that my activities have been publicly critical of the agency. Now, I am not prohibited from free speech, but I do understand quite clearly that my exercise of that right may lead to my employer’s decision to terminate my employment at any time, whether the stated reason is valid or not..as long as the grounds that are given are not clearly discriminating against me on a protected element such as race, my employer CAN let me go for my behavior off the job, if it reflects on my perceived ability to perform my job. That’s cynical, but it’s the real world.
May 18th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Moof, Thanks for your comment on my blog…
It just sucks….S-U-C-K-S… I think y’all are intelligent enough and have been educated enough on HIPAA to know how to blog without giving out PI (private information or patient information). DUH!
Glad I’m out of the healthcare biz (almost one year and counting!)…Geesh!
HIPAA is just one feaking boondoggle in my book. Something that was supposed to simplify things has made EVERYTHING more complicated…Just like government bureaucracy…
:rolls eyes:
OY VEY!
Rant over!
June 3rd, 2007 at 9:28 am
I’m just cracking up that Dr. A referred to my blog as “high profile.” How wonderfully hyperbolic of him! :)
June 12th, 2007 at 10:48 am
“I once had one doc tell me that he was convinced that my three other docs were “trying to do away with†me … imagine what a mean spirited person could have done with that! Wow! I’d be debt free, if I didn’t have a conscience … and some lawyer someplace would probably have a new boat.”
Imagine all you want - the answer is nothing. Reality does not match your paranoia.
June 12th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Moof is being overly dramatic. No one’s free speech rights have been taken away. All that happened was that someone might have been questioned about their statements at trial. You can still talk all you want, but don’t pretend that your words don’t have consequences.
Flea’s scenario is no different than if I you and I were involved in a car crash, and each claimed the light we had was green. If I claimed in an “anonymous” blog that I knew mine was red, why should that not be brought out at trial? Short answer - it shouldn’t.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Well if it isn’t my old friend! I haven’t seen you around in a while, but then again, I stopped following what you were saying on other blogs. It must be pretty slim pickings elsewhere if you’re trolling my blog.
Good to see you’re being a bit more honest by using your name now.
I’m not going to engage you in battle, since we’re not going to agree. You won’t convince me, and I know better than to try to convince you.
Isn’t it something to have someone recognize you just through your attitude?
June 12th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Moof, I’m not trolling at all, unless you think everyone who disagrees with your take on all things is “trolling”. And it’s pretty clear your claims are incorrect, since no one has had their free speech rights removed. It just turns out that speech is not without consequences. Surely you knew that?
Is your given name Moof?
June 13th, 2007 at 10:14 am
Matt, I’ve always wondered if you actually understood what a “troll” was. I guess you don’t.
My given name is not hidden - and it never has been, however I go by Moof in my daily life away from my blog. My closest friends, my family, and my children all call me Moof, and my grandbabies call me “grammoof.” Using Moof is far more honest than going by Doris, a name I only use when I have to sign some sort of official paperwork.
I guess that anonymity is also something you don’t understand. When I comment on someone else’s blog, I always leave a blog address, whether I’m giving them kudos, or a good roasting. And when they follow the link to this blog address, they’re welcome to search for my “given name” - (and they will find it, along with my address, if they want it) - or to simply reply to me in a blog comment.
I am not anonymous. I personally stand behind whatever I say - wherever I go, and am freely accessible to those whose blogs I’ve commented on. I’m not like some cowards, who snipe at bloggers from the shadows, and then run away before the consequences of their own words catch up with them.
And Matt, I’m not going to touch the “free speech” issue with you. I’m going to sign off on that one by saying that better than a dozen med bloggers have pulled in their welcome mats, or closed down shop completely, in the last few months. Whether you’re aware of it or not, there’s a pervasive feeling of fear and intimidation across the medical blogosphere. That, my friend, is what I’m talking about. I won’t address this subject with you again, so don’t bother trying to goad me, but I didn’t want to completely skirt the issue.
Why aren’t you over on Kevin MD, or DB’s Med Rants? I would think that the posts and comments on those blogs would be far more entertaining for you.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:10 am
So what if they pulled their blogs down? Again, no one ever said free speech meant no consequences. At least half of those people you cite pulled their blogs down because their employers wanted them to. Why should people feel intimidated if they mean what they say? What are they afraid of? Why would you say something you didn’t mean unless clearly in jest? And if you did mean it, why should you be insulated from its consequences?
Hey, if you prefer a world where you can simply say things and have everyone agree with you, that’s fine with me. I’ll not bother you then, as while I agree with much of you say, I doubt I, or anyone else, will ever agree with EVERYTHING you say.
June 13th, 2007 at 11:57 am
… my, wouldn’t that be dull!
… you have a very strange way of indicating your “agreement.”
And Matt … why should I reply to questions like:
… from someone with a chronic case of anonymity? I find it difficult to understand where you even get the cheek to ask such questions! *LOL*
June 13th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
I don’t have the expectation that no one could ever figure out what I said. I prefer to not post all my personal info simply for privacy reasons, but I accept that with a little work and some computer knowledge it would be easy to figure out who I am and what I’ve said. And I govern myself accordingly.
The reason you should reply is because that is what you are claiming and presumably you believe it. If you believe that position has validity, then you ought to be able to explain it. Let me put it another way - if you and I were in a car wreck, and we both claimed the light was green for us, yet I blogged “anonymously” that I knew it was red for me, should you not be able to bring that up? Why should I be insulated from that statement simply because I use a pseudonym?
As for our agreements, I agree with you on posts on lots of other subjects, but your blanket hatred of all those who practice law is where I don’t. Nothing wrong with that. I’m sure face to face we would find each other very pleasant. Surely you have friends who you have a fundamental disagreement with on one issue?
June 13th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Matt, are you not paying attention to the things you’re writing, or are you just prone to Freudian slips? >;o)
I don’t have to reply to those disingenuous questions, Matt - the answers are already in my post, and in other posts I’ve already made. They’re also in comments on other people’s blogs - with my name and linkback on them. You want an answer? It’s already there. Help yourself.
Of course I do! Lots of issues, in fact. When we don’t agree, we can have some stimulating and enjoyable conversations. Sometimes, one of us will actually play devil’s advocate just to stir things up a bit.
However Matt … you seem to have difficulty grasping a few concepts, since they seem to be a recurring theme with you:
You do not seem to understand the difference between a person being able to condemn (or hate) injustice without condemning (or hating) the one(s) who is/are being unjust.
Are you aware that I have friends who happen to be lawyers, or that there are lawyers whom I admire and respect?
And you may feel that there’s “nothing wrong” with someone having a “blanket hatred” of an entire group of people (Dude, that’s scary coming from a lawyer!) but I guess that’s just one more area that you and I will have to disagree on.
Really? I’m not aware of which posts those might be. Perhaps they were the fluffy, fuzzy ones in which no opinion whatsoever was expressed …? How long have we “known” each other, Matt? I remember arguing with you on DB’s Med Rants and Rangel MD at least two years ago, and I’m not sure I remember ever seeing a comment you’ve written which I’ve agreed with.
But then again, perhaps you’re right. You’ve mentioned before - I think it was on Dr. Flea’s blog, that if we were to meet, that we would find “each other very pleasant.” It needs to be pointed out though, that if we were to meet, I would still be who I am: what you see is what you get. You, however, would be out in the open for the first time, since I’ve never seen your blog - only the comments you leave on other people’s.
And those comments, Matt … are all I’ve had to go by.