Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
Today’s Boston Globe ran a front page story on a blogging doctor unmasked during a malpractice trial. It appears that the doctor in question - Robert P. Lindeman - had been writing a running commentary under an assumed name of a case very much like his own. Once the plaintiff’s lawyer determined that Lindeman was Flea (the name he used for his blog), the case was quickly settled.
In his blog, Flea had ridiculed the plaintiff’s case and the plaintiff’s lawyer. He had revealed the defense strategy. He had accused members of the jury of dozing.
Blogger unmasked, court case upended - The Boston Globe
I’ve written before that social media and transparency don’t translate to stupid or sloppy and this case demonstrates what can happen when they do. There is a time and a place for everything and when you are being sued for your part in the death of a child (as was Lindeman) it is not the time to pen a humorous and irreverent blog on the situation . . .
Technorati Tags: Robert P. Lindeman, Flea, Boston Globe, blogging, malpractice, hubris

on June 16th, 2008 at 9:07 am
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