A TikTok video made by an alleged anti-vaccine healthcare worker, in which she ignores an alleged patient yelling in the background in distress, is sparking backlash from both the public and the healthcare community.
The original video, made by @alienfire10 on TikTok, shows the apparent healthcare worker looking condescendingly toward the direction of the patient who yells out, “Help me, somebody fucking help me.” The on-screen text of the video says, “When you tell the vaccinated patient he tested positive for COVID … ”
Dr. Siyab, an internal medicine and heart doctor with more than 148,600 followers on TikTok, responded to her video by calling out how unethical it was for the healthcare worker to film a patient in distress. The video garnered more than 610,000 views.
“This video is so problematic on so many different levels,” Siyab says in his video. “They’re using a sound of what appears to be a patient who is in obvious anguish and distress to try to further their anti-vax propaganda. Basically chasing clout.”
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The original video by @alienfire10 has been taken down and the account was made private, but people in the comments alleged the creator’s entire page was filled with problematic content.
Others said this made them think about how they would feel if they or their loved ones were being filmed in their most vulnerable moments.
“So if I’m in pain in an ER, is someone out at the desk making fun of me?” one user commented.
In his video, Siyab says not only does the original video paint the healthcare community in a bad light, but it likely breaks “multiple, multiple” codes of ethics rules.
“I’m making this video because when healthcare workers see other healthcare workers do stupid shit that they shouldn’t be doing, we call them out because we hold each other accountable,” Siyab says in the video. “ I don’t know if this creator is going to see my video, but if you do, you need to do better.”
According to The Joint Commission, “informed consent is required any time recordings, films, or other images of patients are used for purposes other than the identification, diagnosis, or treatment of the patient.” Organizations must also create written policies that address what circumstances recordings of patients may be obtained and how they will be used.
HIPAA guidance further states that recordings must be taken, used, and disclosed in compliance with state and federal law or risk violating patient privacy and interfering with patient care. People online said a voice recording could be enough to identify a patient.
“This SHOULD be considered a HIPAA violation,” one user commented. “Someone CAN recognize a voice.”
Violations aside, others said it was bad enough that she was filming someone in anguish for entertainment without their consent.
A few people claimed that the audio of the alleged patient screaming in the background is not her original audio but that it was still “in very poor taste” to use the audio regardless.
“The sound has been used in all kinds of videos of nurses ignoring patients but this one is particularly bad,” one user commented. “Not a fan.”
TikTok user @alienfire10 couldn’t be reached for comment.
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