Black Boxes in Surgery Rooms
Sun Media
St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto has tried a pilot project to allow black box-type technology in the operating room. There are good and bad points to this project, but overall I think it is a good measure.
While I do not love the idea of invading the privacy of surgeons while doing their work or adding pressure to a high stress situation, at the end of the day it is about the patient.
When a doctor is performing a surgery on you, you have a right to know how it went and if anything went wrong. Don’t forget mistakes are made all the time. Doctors are allowed to make some mistakes in this province, but they are not allowed to make mistakes that no other reasonable doctor would make. They are not allowed to injure you or harm you in an irreparable way if you did not consent to the risk.
Medical malpractice cases are tricky and difficult to sue. These black boxes would help streamline the process and determine whether doctors were negligent or not.
As a patient I would like the added pressure of the doctor knowing he or she is being watched. It will be interesting to see if other hospitals will follow suit.