Parents of a young patient at Children's Hospital in Boston apparently thought it would be a good idea to install a webcam in their child's hospital room. A nurse found the camera and it caused a bit of a kerfuffle. Dr. Samuel Blackman, an oncologist at the hospital, wrote about the incident on his invite-only blog saying that the camera was put up by the parents so that a relative could "keep in touch." But as is bound to happen with a camera turned on its subject 24/7, the camera captured unsavory moments like the child throwing up and having a bloody nose.
On his blog Dr. Blackman asked, "How far can a parent or relative go in taping the healthcare of their loved one?" I sure would like to know. We were told by our San Francisco ultrasound technician that we were in no way allowed to record the experience of finding out the gender of our first baby with our DV camera. It had to do with legal/liability issues.
I can understand wanting to be close to a child that is in the hospital for an extended stay, but just going ahead and installing a NannyCam in the hospital room? As expected, the Boston family was told they could video their own child, but not other patients or staff.
