The Guardian:
A Dutch surgeon formally disciplined for her medical negligence has won a legal action to remove Google search results about her case in a landmark “right to be forgotten” ruling.
The doctor’s registration on the register of healthcare professionals was initially suspended by a disciplinary panel because of her postoperative care of a patient. After an appeal, this was changed to a conditional suspension under which she was allowed to continue to practise.
But the first results after entering the doctor’s name in Google continued to be links to a website containing an unofficial blacklist, which it was claimed amounted to “digital pillory”. It was heard that potential patients had found the blacklist on Google and discussed the case on a web forum.
In a nutshell, the medical community decided that the doctor was allowed to practice, but Google’s search results led to an unofficial blacklist which circumvented that ruling.
Very interesting case. Looks like that blacklist will have to come down.
[Via The Overspill]
“circumvented that ruling”… No, the ruling allowing the doctor to practice was still in place… It’s just now all knowledge of the previous discipline is being tossed down the memory hole so potential patients are uninformed.
Reminds me of a recent ad where as surgeon is about to enter a patient’s room saying… “Guess who just got reinstated!”
This kind of thing is going to be tricky. How do we balance a professional’s ‘right to be forgotten’ vs potential clients’ right to know about issues in that professional’s past? What about others, e.g. home contractors? Hell, what about restaurant reviews?