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A Doctor Remotely Told A Patient He Was Going To Die Using A Video-Link Robot (bbc.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the bedside-manners dept.

dryriver quotes the BBC: A doctor in California told a patient he was going to die using a robot with a video-link screen. Ernest Quintana, 78, was at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fremont when a doctor — appearing on the robot's screen — informed him that he would die within a few days. A family friend wrote on social media that it was "not the way to show value and compassion to a patient". The hospital says it "regrets falling short" of the family's expectations.

Mr Quintana died the next day.

3 of 223 comments (clear)

  1. It's Kaiser by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's Kaiser Permanente. What did you expect? Resources wasted seeing a patient in person, when they were going to quit paying fees in a few days anyway?

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  2. Problem is the doctor, not the patient by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1, Interesting

    If you can't handle the truth of someone near death's fate stay out of hospitals.

    Likewise, if you cannot be bothered to take the time to tell your dying patient the truth in person then don't be a doctor. The problem here is not that the patient can't handle the truth it's that the doctor either didn't care enough to tell his patient in person or was, himself, unable to handle a serious conversation like this.

  3. Re: So, maybe not the best bedside manner by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, the doctor *did* speak to the patient in person earlier that day. I presume later when the doctor was at home he got the test results and decided to use the telepresence bot instead to get the news out more quickly rather than waiting a day (and the patient did die the next day).