It is a violation of medical ethics in mammoth proportions. A nurse in Sweden posted photographs taken during surgical procedures:

“…An inquiry has begun at the hospital and surgical staff have been summoned to an emergency meeting to remind them of the need to respect patient privacy. The hospital says it is still considering the appropriate action — to report the nurse to police or dismiss her. The nurse, unnamed for legal reasons, has been suspended and the 14 pictures have been deleted from her Facebook profile.”

link: And this is me on Facebook … helping with brain surgery

For photographs to be used for medical textbooks, there is a strict protocol of releases that must be signed by the patient. It is not unusual that there is strict peer review during the editing stage of the material prior to any thought of publication. To have such sensitive photographs to be found on Facebook contravene so many legal and medical parameters. The hospital could face staggering lawsuits. - Perhaps now medical insurers will have to include a Facebook / social network clause. What was this nurse thinking?!

Catherine Forsythe