Professional Issues in Imaging

During World War I, the demand for x-ray

technicians in military hospitals was so great that a
shortage of technical workers became acute at
home. The value of the well-trained technician was
emphasized, and the radiologist was no longer
satisfied with someone who knew only how to throw
the switch and develop films.
Margaret Hoing, The First Lady of Radiologic Technology
A History of the American Society of X-Ray Technicians,
1952

The field of radiologic technology began on November 8,

1895, when Wilhelm Conrad Rntgen, a German physicist,
was working in his laboratory at the University of Wurzburg.
Rntgen had been experimenting with cathode rays and
was exploring their properties outside glass tubes. He had
covered the glass tube to prevent any visible light from
escaping. During this work, Rntgen observed that a screen
that had been painted with barium platinocyanide was
emitting light (fluorescing). This effect had to be caused by
invisible rays being emitted from the tube. During the next
several weeks, Rntgen investigated these invisible rays.
During his investigation, he saw the very first radiographic
image, his own skeleton. Rntgen became the first
radiographer when he produced a series of photographs of
radiographic images, most notably the image of his wife's
hand . He termed these invisible rays x-rays because x is
the symbol for an unknown variable

Radiologic technology is the technical science that

deals with the use of x-rays or radioactive
substances for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes
in medicine. Radiologic technologist is a general
term applied to persons qualified to use x-rays
(radiography) or radioactive substances (nuclear
medicine) to produce images of the internal parts of
the body for interpretation by a physician known as
a radiologist. Radiologic technology also involves
the use of x-rays or radioactive substances in the
treatment of disease (radiation therapy).

A radiologic technologist specializing in the

use of x-rays to create images of the body is
known as a radiographer . Radiographers
perform a wide variety of diagnostic x-ray
procedures, including examinations of the
skeletal system, the chest, and the abdomen.

To become a registered radiographer, an accredited

radiography program must be completed. Programs
are most commonly sponsored by hospitals,
community colleges, and universities.
Approximately 600 radiography programs are
available in the United States. On successful
completion of an accredited program, individuals
are awarded a certificate, an associate degree, or a
baccalaureate degree and are eligible to take the
national examination in radiography offered by the
American Registry of Radiologic Technologists
(ARRT). A registered radiographer uses the initials
RT(R) after his or her name. This abbreviation
means registered technologist (radiography).

Accreditation is a voluntary peer-review

process. Although accreditation is voluntary, few
programs choose not to undergo the
accreditation process. Nearly all schools value
their accreditation status highly and work hard to
maintain standards that meet all the
accreditation recommendations

The Criteria for a Profession

Radiologic technology has evolved from an
undereducated workforce of x-ray technicians in the
early 1900s to the continued advances as a
profession in the 21st century. This progression took
place over a number of years with the efforts and
dedication of the persons who worked in this field.
The term profession implies a body of work that
requires extensive training and the mastery of study
by its members who have specialized skills, has a
professional organization and ethical code of
conduct, and serves a specific social need.

Radiography is considered to be the fifth oldest allied health

profession because the first Essentials document was
established in 1944, after occupational therapy, medical
technology, physical therapy, and medical records
administration. Not until 1969 was the Joint Review
Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology
(JRCERT) established. The JRCERT board is currently
nominated by the American College of Radiology, the
American Society of Radiologic Technologists, the
Association of Educators in Radiological Sciences, and the
American Healthcare Radiology Administrators. The
JRCERT accredits approximately 600 radiography programs
(more than any other allied health profession), as well as
approximately 80 radiation therapy technology programs
(web site: http://wwwjrcert.org).

Professional certification is a process through

which an agency grants recognition to an
individual on demonstration, usually by
examination, of specialized professional skills. It is
a voluntary process and is the responsibility of the
person, not of the person's school or employer.
Each certification organization sets requirements
for the recognition of professionals through
registration, certification, or other recognition of
skills by examination.

Actually, a registry is simply a listing of

individuals holding a particular certification. The
term registry is commonly applied to the agency
that carries out the certification function and
maintains the registry list

1895

Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered x-rays in Wurzburg, Germany.

1920

The American Association of Radiological Technicians, the first society for

the profession, was created by a group of technologists in Chicago, Illinois.
The society was dedicated to the advancement of radiologic technology.

1921

The society's first annual meeting was held. Membership totaled 47.

1922

The American Registry of Radiological Technicians originated.

1930s Radiographer education was primarily by apprenticeship.

1940s
1932

The name of the American Association of Radiological Technicians was

formally changed to the American Society of X-ray Technicians (ASXT).

1936

The ASXT was authorized to make appointment to the Registry Board of

Trustees.
The ASXT provided a basic minimum curriculum for training schools.

1952
1955

The ASXT created a new membership categoryFellow of AXSTwhich

recognized individual members who have made significant contributions to
the profession.

1959
1960
1963

1964
1966

1967

The ASXT membership reached 8,600 members.

Registry applicants were required to have at least 2 years of
training or experience.
The American Registry of Radiological Technicians changed
its name to the American Registry of Radiologic
Technologists (ARRT).
The ASXT changed its name to the American Society of
Radiologic Technologists.
Registry applicants were required to be graduates of training
programs approved by the American Medical Association's
Council on Medical Education.
The Association of University Radiologic Technologists was
established to stimulate an interest in radiologic technology
through the academic environment.

1996
1997
1998

2001

2002
2003
2005
2006

The Society membership reached 47,000 members.

ARRT marked its 75th anniversary.
ASRT launched an aggressive campaign to protect patients
from overexposure to radiation during radiologic procedures
and help reduce the costs of health care.
ASRT introduced a bill, known as the Consumer Assurance of
Radiologic Excellence (CARE) bill, during the 2001
congressional session. It ensures that the people performing
radiologic examinations are qualified.
ASRT membership reached 100,000 members.
CARE bill reintroduced.
CARE/RadCARE bill is enacted.
RadCARE (S.B. 2322) bill is introduced and passes
unanimously

The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) was

founded in 1922 by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA),
with the support of the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) and
the cooperation of the Canadian Association of Radiologists and the
American Society of X-Ray Technicians (now known as the American
Society of Radiologic Technologists [ASRT]

The purposes of the ARRT include encouraging the study and elevating
the standards of radiologic technology, examining and certifying eligible
candidates, and periodically publishing a listing of registrants. This mission
is accomplished through voluntary certification by examination. Once an
individual has passed the appropriate examination, he or she is listed in
the registry and granted the right to use an appropriate professional title.
These designations are registered technologist (RT), with a specialty
designation for radiographer (R),

The ASRT was founded in 1920. As the most prominent

national professional voice for radiologic technologists,
the ASRT represents individual practitioners, educators,
managers and administrators, and students in
radiography, radiation therapy, and nuclear medicine, as
well as the many specialties within each modality. The
ASRT has approximately 115,000 members (nearly one
half of the registered technologists in the United States).
The goals of the ASRT are to advance the professions of
radiologic technology and imaging specialties, to
maintain high standards of education, to enhance the
quality of patient care, and to further the welfare and
socioeconomics of radiologic technologists. The ASRT
publishes a peer-reviewed, refereed journal (Radiologic
Technology), conducts regional and national
conferences, and produces educational programs of all
types

The criteria for a group of practitioners:

A vital human service is provided to the society by the
profession.
Professions possess a special body of knowledge that is
continuously enlarged through research.
Practitioners are expected to be accountable and
responsible.
The education of professionals takes place in institutions for
higher education.
Practitioners have an independent function and control their
own practice.
Professionals are committed to their work and are motivated
by doing well.
A code of ethics guides professional decisions and conduct.
A professional organization oversees and supports standards
of practice

The radiographer will interact on a daily basis with

his peers in diagnostic imaging and with other
members of the health care team :

Physician
Nurse
Physical and occupational therapist
Pharmacist
Lab Technologist
Social worker

Imaging and radiation science professionals face a

variety of ethical challenges within medical imaging
services. Because of their differing diagnostic
applications, individual modalities present specific ethical
dilemmas. Imaging professionals should consider these
dilemmas to be challenges and opportunities for growth.
When faced with such challenges, imaging professionals
and radiation science practitioners must apply
professional standards and exercise personal integrity to
respond correctly to the situation. A firm grounding in
ethics may help imaging professionals, radiation therapy
specialists, and other health care professionals respond
positively to the dilemmas they encounter in the
workplace

Ethics is the system or

code of conduct and
morals advocated by a
particular individual or
group.

The child's parents are afraid their son will outlive

them if he has the surgery. A vascular imaging
technologist who assisted with the cardiac
catheterization is horrified when she finds out the
young child will not be operated on because of
low IQ and quality-of-life decisions made for the
child by others. She wonders whose good the
parents and physician are considering and in what
way they arrived at such a decision.

To resolve ethical dilemmas, one may apply this

established set of principles to decision making:

Autonomy
Beneficience
Confidentiality
Fidelity
Justice
Nonmaleficence
Paternalism
Sanctity of life
Veracity
Respect for property

Autonomy: Refers to the

right of all persons to make
rational decisions free from
external pressures.

Beneficience:
Performance of good acts.

Confidentiality: Refers to
the concept of privacy

Fidelity: Refers to the duty to fulfill one's

commitments and applies to keeping
promises both stated and implied

Justice: Refers to all

persons being treated
equally or receiving equal
benefits according to need.

Nonmaleficence: Refers to
the duty to abstain from
inflicting harm and also the
duty to prevent harm.

Paternalism: Refers to the

attitude that sometimes
prompts health care
workers to make decisions
regarding a person's care
without consulting the
person affected

Sanctity of life: Refers to

the belief that life is the
highest good and nobody
has the right to judge that
another person's quality of
life is so poor that his or her
life is not of value and
should be terminated.

Veracity: Refers to honesty in all aspects of

one's professional life. One must be honest
with patients, co-workers, and oneself

Respect for property: Refers to keeping the

patients' belongings safe and taking care not to
intentionally damage or waste equipment or
supplies with which one works

Double Effect: Refers to

the fact that some actions
may produce both a good
and a bad effect

Nonmaleficence

Beneficence

Goal is to do no harm

Goal is to do good

Achieved through passive

omission

Achieved through active

process

Primary responsibility of
the health care provider

Secondary in importance to
nonmaleficence

Conflicts among beneficence, nonmaleficence, and

autonomy (the state of independent self-government)
may arise during consideration of principles of justice.
The general belief in the right to health care brings
beneficence and nonmaleficence into conflict with
autonomy and justice. Although most people believe
that the good of health care should be available to all,
health care resources are limited and hard decisions
must be made about their allocation. Limited
resources reduce the overall quality of care and may
lead to less avoidance of evil. When quality of health
care is reduced, the patient's autonomy suffers from
loss of freedom of choices. When choices are limited,
the obligations of the patient and health care giver
may conflict with resources and justice for the patient

A female patient is scheduled for a lumbar spine imaging

series. The imaging professional in charge of the examination
is interrupted and called to the emergency room to care for
victims of a massive accident. Another imaging professional
arrives to take over the examination before the initial
exposure is taken. When asked if everything is ready, the first
technologist says yes and hurries to the emergency room.
The second imaging technologist surveys the patient, who is
covered with a sheet, introduces himself, and performs the
lumbar spine series. The processed images reveal that the
woman is in her first trimester of pregnancy. Obviously, an
injustice has been done, and a lawsuit may possibly result

Was the injustice active, that is, did the first or

second imaging professional deliberately not shield
the patient and ask about possible pregnancy? Or
was the injustice an unintentional error of omission
resulting from the confusion caused by the first
technologist's leaving to attend to accident victims in
the emergency room?

We don't receive wisdom; we must

discover it for ourselves after a journey
that no one can take for us or spare us.
MARCEL PROUST

Professionalism is an awareness of the

conduct, aims, and qualities defining a
given profession, familiarity with
professional codes of ethics, and
understanding of ethical schools of
thought, patient-professional interaction
models, and patient rights

Ethics may be divided into

three broad schools of
thought:
1.Consequentialism
2.Deontology
3.Virtue ethics

Consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics

are ways of establishing a value hierarchy in
ethical decisions. Each school of thought offers
different guidelines for ethical problem solving. No
one school is better than the others; imaging
professionals must choose the one that best
serves individual, professional, and institutional
goals

Consequentialism, or teleology, bases decisions on

the consequences or outcomes of a given act. It
evaluates the good of an activity by assessing
whether immediate harm is balanced with future
benefit. For example, a patient undergoing radiation
therapy for cancer may experience some discomfort
now, but the palliation or cure of the cancer is the
desired beneficial consequence of the therapy.
Consequentialism advocates providing the greatest
good for the greatest number

Deontology bases decision making on individual

motives and morals rather than consequences. It is
therefore the opposite of teleology. Deontology
examines the significance of actions themselves. For
example, members of certain religious groups refuse
blood transfusions because they believe the act is
morally wrong. Although they may be concerned
about the consequences of this refusal, they are
making the choice based on their religious beliefs
regarding blood transfusions. Personal rules of right
and wrong derived from individual actions, duties,
relationships of all kinds, and society are used for
reasoning and problem solving in the deontologic
school of thought.

Virtue ethics is a relatively new school of thought. It

focuses on the use of practical wisdom and moral
character for emotional and intellectual problem
solving. Virtue ethics incorporates elements of
teleology and deontology to provide a more holistic
approach to solving ethical dilemmas. Careful
analysis and consideration of consequences, rules
established by society, and short-term effects play
significant roles in decision making in virtue ethics.

Law: the principles and regulations

established in a community by some authority
and applicable to its people, whether in the
form of legislation or of custom and policies
recognized and enforced by judicial decision.

Practice Standards
The Professional Performance Standards define the
activities of the practitioner in the areas of education,
interpersonal relationships, personal and professional
self-assessment, and ethical behavior.
The Clinical Performance Standards define the activities
of the practitioner in the care of patients and the delivery
of diagnostic or therapeutic procedures and treatment.
The section incorporates patient assessment and
management with procedural analysis, performance, and
evaluation.
The Quality Performance Standards define the activities
of the practitioner in the technical areas of performance
including equipment and material assessment, safety
standards, and total quality management

Statutory laws are derived from

legislative enactments.
Common law usually results
from judicial decisions

Civil law has been broken if another

person's private legal rights have been
violated. The person who is found guilty
of this type of offense is usually expected
to pay a sum of money to repair the
damage done.

Certain terms in law come from Latin. The term tort comes
from Latin, meaning to twist, be twisted, or to wrest aside.
Tort is a private or civil wrong or injury, and not a breach of
contract, for which the court provides a remedy for
damages. There must always be a violation of some duty
owed to the plaintiff, and generally such duty must arise by
operation of law and not by mere agreement of the parties.

Respondeat superior means let the master answer. If a

nursing assistant is sued for actions that harm a patient,
her employer can also be sued. The employer can be
sued on the basis that the employer had control, or should
have had control, over the actions of the nursing assistant
and that the nursing assistant was working in the course
and scope of her employment

Res ipsa loquitur means the thing speaks for itself. For
example, a person has surgery to correct a hernia, but
when he awakes, his arm is paralyzed. Because he had
no control over his actions during the surgery and a
paralyzed arm is not an expected outcome or even a
possible adverse reaction, then the law presumes that the
paralysis had to be caused by the negligence of the
surgical technician, operating room nurse, surgeon,
and/or anesthesiologist. This presumption means that the
plaintiff does not have to prove that negligence occurred
in order to recover from the defendant.

Stare decisis means to stand by things decided. This

prevents multiple suits on the same facts with the same
parties. It allows courts to refer to previously decided similar
cases and to apply the same rules and principles. The courts
can follow prior decisions or those of courts of higher
jurisdiction

Negligence is a tort. It is the cornerstone of a

malpractice case. Negligence does not
require a specific plan to harm someone. There
are four elements in a negligence action: duty,
breach of duty, proximate harm or causal
connection, and harm/damages

A tort may be committed intentionally or

unintentionally. An intentional tort is a
purposeful deed committed with the intention
of producing the consequences of the deed

The degree of intent necessary to commit an intentional tort is

broader than having a desire to bring about harm or injury to a
person. If a person is or should be substantially certain that
given circumstances will follow from his actions, then there
exists the requisite intent. For example, if you walk behind a
healthcare provider in the hospital just as he pulls a tray from
the dinner cart and hits you, there is no intent to harm you,
and no intentional tort is committed. But if a healthcare
provider takes the tray and throws it across the room at a
patient's bed so that it hits the patient, then he knew or should
have known that the action of throwing a tray was likely to hit
someone and cause injury. That knowledge is sufficient to
form the intent necessary to commit an intentional tort of
assault and battery in this case.

Facts: A 75-year-old patient at a licensed healthcare provider

care center suffered from diabetes, dementia, coronary artery
disease, immobile decubitus ulcers (bedsores), and was
unable to walk, talk, or feed herself.
Her physician prescribed a daily whirlpool bath as a medical
treatment for the decubitus ulcers. The facility did not have a
whirlpool so she was given a regular daily bath. A certified
nursing assistant prepared a bath for the patient and placed
her in hot water that was 138 degrees and that subsequently
caused severe burns from which she died three days later.
A wrongful death action was brought. Parties settled before trial
for $1.5 million.

Intent may also be transferred. For example, you intend to

shoot person A, but you miss and shoot person B instead.
Even though you have no intent to harm person B, your
intent to harm person A is transferred, and the law deems
that you had the intent to harm person B. It is a rule of law
that intent follows the bullet. While transferred intent does
not often occur in the medical setting, if a healthcare
provider gives the wrong patient an injection, she can be
liable for battery and negligence even though she has no
intent to harm that patient or any conscious desire to
administer the injection to the wrong patient.

An assault means placing someone in

immediate fear or apprehension of a harmful or
noxious touching without the patient's consent.
To commit an assault, the person must be
aware that you are about to touch him or her
For example, a patient is in bed crying and becomes
hysterical. The home health aide caring for the patient
becomes increasingly anxious and upset as a result of the
patient's behavior. The aide raises her hand over her head
and threatens to strike the patient. (The aide does not have to
tell the patient anything; raising the hand as if to strike is
enough.) If the patient sees the aide raising her hand and
cringes to protect herself, then the patient is put in imminent
fear of a battery, and the aide commits an assault

Battery is harmful or offensive touching of another

without his or her consent or without a legally justifiable
reason. Without the consent of the patient, or absent an
emergency, any touching of a patient can be a battery.
A battery does not mean you must try to maliciously hurt
or strike a person. Any touching, such as inserting an
intravenous device, may be a battery if done without the
consent of the person or without a legally justifiable
reason. Also, hitting, spitting at, kicking, and slapping a
patient can all be batteries. In addition, you do not need to
touch the patient to commit a battery

A battery is any offensive touching without permission or

in the absence of an emergency situation. All patients
admitted to a hospital are required to sign a general
consent. This general consent is for medical care and
treatment for other employees of the hospital to touch
the patient, even in a therapeutic manner. Do not
confuse this general consent with an informed
consent to surgery or to other invasive procedures.
While the failure to obtain an informed consent may give
rise to an action in medical negligence, the consent
necessary to avoid a battery is the permission to touch
the person.

A medical battery can be committed in specific

situations where there is consent to perform some
procedure but you perform another. At the cornerstone
of this theory is the decision of the brilliant jurist Justice
Benjamin Cardozo, who wrote in 1914: Every human
being of adult years and sound mind has a right to
determine what shall be done with his own body, and a
surgeon who performs an operation without his
patient's consent commits an assault for which he is
liable in damages

While you may think that no person would perform a procedure

other than the one authorized, several cases are instructive. In
Pizzaloto v. Wilson, the patient gave consent for the surgeon to
perform exploratory surgery to accomplish lysis of adhesions
and fulguration of endometriosis [2]. During the abdominal
surgery, the physician noted that the plaintiff's reproductive
organs had sustained severe damage. He determined that she
was in fact sterile and proceeded to perform a total
hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.
When the plaintiff awoke from surgery, she was upset with what
the physician had done. In ruling in her favor, the court ruled
that the plaintiff was entitled to recover damages because there
was no emergency present and the surgeon committed a
battery. The court awarded her $10,000. See also Guin v.
Sison, where the court awarded $1000 to a postmenopausal
women who had her left fallopian tube and ovary removed
without consent during the course of a colectomy

There are limited situations in which the courts imply consent

on behalf of the plaintiff. In one of the oldest cases of implied
consent, the plaintiff, an employee of defendant, spoke no
English. He was standing in line with other employees to be
vaccinated. He asked no questions. He watched others being
vaccinated, and when it was his turn, he held up his arm to
the physician who proceeded with the vaccination. When
plaintiff filed suit against the company and others alleging
battery, the court stated the plaintiff's action clearly indicated
implied consent or implied permission to touch him. The
court dismissed the battery claim [6]. It is highly unlikely that
any similar situation would arise in medicine today, but there
are circumstances when consent will be implied

In modern medicine, consent is implied in emergency

situations. The situation must be life threatening or
pose a risk of significant physical injury to the patient if
the procedures are not performed. Only those
procedures absolutely necessary are authorized, and
as soon as possible competent consent should be
obtained. Only a physician can make the
determination that a true emergency exists that
necessitates proceeding without consent.

If the religious prohibitions are known, then consent is not

implied, even in the case of a minor. In Novak v. Cobb County
Kennestone Hospital Authority, the hospital obtained a court
order to administer blood to a 16-year-old Jehovah's Witness
[7]. The order was entered despite the protest of the boy and
his mother. Even though the mother and child brought suit
after the boy had recovered, the court dismissed all claims.
Without the court order, however, the hospital and physicians
could not have proceeded with the blood transfusions. Keep
in mind that a court will only order procedures in the case of a
minor. If a competent adult refuses life-saving treatment, the
courts will not interfere, nor will they imply consent.

To prevent allegations of battery, always have your

patient's written consent to perform a procedure.
Only perform the procedure authorized, and do not
exceed the scope of the consent. In emergency
situations, have at least two physicians certify that
an emergency exists, document the certification in
the patient's record, and perform only those
procedures that are necessary to save a person's life
or to prevent significant injury or harm. As soon as
possible, obtain competent consent for the
performance of additional procedures

False imprisonment is the unlawful detention of a person.

The person is deprived of his personal liberty of movement
against his will and without any authority to detain. To be
falsely imprisoned, a person must be confined within a
specific area against his will; he must be confined by means
of physical barriers and/or by physical force or threat of
physical force, and he must be aware of the confinement.
Issues of false imprisonment generally arise in three
circumstances: first, in the psychiatric setting with involuntary
commitments; second, with the use of restraints, either
physical or chemical; and third, in situations where a patient
attempts to leave the hospital against medical advice.

Use of restraints is not limited to the psychiatric setting. In

many hospitals and nursing homes, patients are restrained to
prevent injury. Even putting up side rails on a bed is a form
of restraint. The reasons that, for example, side rails are up
should be documented in the record. If the patient refuses to
allow the side rails to be put up, then have her sign a release
from liability in the event of a fall. Even though it is probably
not worth the paper it is written on in a court of law, a release
gives the patient the opportunity to appreciate the gravity of
her decision to refuse the side rails. Use of any other type of
restraint, such as sheets to hold patients in wheelchairs,
belts, or any other form of physical restraint, should be
used only as a last resort and must be used only as
approved by hospital policy and the physician

Quasi-intentional torts include defamation, invasion of

privacy, and breach of confidentiality. Quasi means
resembling. These types of torts resemble intentional
torts but are different because they are based on
speech

Defamation wrongfully damages the reputation of another

person. Libel is written defamatory statements, and
slander is spoken defamatory statements. To be liable for
defamation, you must make a defamatory statement that is
published to third parties, and the speaker must have
known or should have known that the statements were
false

An example of a defamation per se case is Schlesser v.

Keck [20]. Plaintiff was a cook and caterer who tested
false-positive for syphilis when she was in the army.
She sought treatment for the false-positive.
Defendant was the doctor's nurse who was
administering the treatments. Despite the defendant's
knowledge that the tests were false-positive and the
defendant's knowledge that plaintiff did not have
syphilis, defendant announced at a party that the
plaintiff had syphilis and should not be allowed to
cater or prepare food.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Even if a true

statement damages a person's reputation, it is not
actionable as defamation. Certain individuals, such as
public officials, must prove actual malice on the part of the
defendant before they are allowed to succeed.

The computer age is creating even more problems for

breach of confidentiality. While allowing practitioners to
have easier access to their patient records and allowing
information to be relayed more quickly, computerized
medical records allow too many people access

Whether a healthcare provider has access to the traditional

written medical record or to computerized records, the
responsibility to keep information confidential does not
change. Any information that a healthcare provider
learns while taking care of a patient is confidential, even
if it does not relate directly to the treatment of the
patient

Invasion of privacy is the tort of unjustifiably intruding

upon another's right of privacy by:
1. Appropriating his or her name or likeness
2. Unreasonably interfering with his or her seclusion
3. Publishing private facts
4. Placing a person in a false light
Invasion of privacy differs from defamation. In most
instances, the information is true but is information that a
person wants to keep private. While defamation causes
injury to reputation, invasion of privacy causes injury to
feelings.

Good samaritan in legal terms refers to someone

who renders aid in an emergency to an injured person
on a voluntary basis. Usually, if a volunteer comes to
the aid of an injured or ill person who is a stranger,
the person giving the aid owes the stranger a duty of
being reasonably careful. A person is not obligated by
law to do first aid in most states, not unless it's part of
a job description. However, some states will consider
it an act of negligence though, if a person doesn't at
least call for help. Generally, where an unconscious
victim cannot respond, a good samaritan can help
them on the grounds of implied consent. However, if
the victim is conscious and can respond, a person
should ask their permission to help them first

Some states offer immunity to good samaritans, but

sometimes negligence could result in a claim of negligent
care if the injuries or illness were made worse by the
volunteer's negligence. Statutes typically don't exempt a
good samaritan who acts in a willful and wanton or
reckless manner in providing the care, advice, or
assistance. Good samaritan laws often don't apply to a
person rendering emergency care, advice, or assistance
during the course or regular employment, such as
services rendered by a health care provider to a patient
in a health care facility

Under the good samaritan laws which grant immunity,

if the good samaritan makes an error while rendering
emergency medical care, he or she cannot be held
legally liable for damages in court. However, two
conditions usually must be met:
1)the aid must be given at the scene of the
emergency, and.
2)2) if the "volunteer" has other motives, such as the
hope of being paid a fee or reward, then the law will
not apply

1 To successfully pursue a lawsuit for an intentional tort, the plaintiff

must prove that the defendant had the requisite intent, that the injury
resulted from the defendant's action, and that no defense was
present.
2 If a defendant can prove that the plaintiff gave consent, then the
defendant did not commit an intentional tort.
3 The defendant must stay within the boundaries of the consent
given by the plaintiff. If the defendant exceeds the scope of the
consent, then it is as though there was no consent.
4 Forcing treatment on an unwilling patient is assault and battery.
5 If procedures for involuntary admissions are not followed, then false
imprisonment may occur. If force is used to detain a patient, then
false imprisonment has occurred. No matter how noble a healthcare
worker's motives may be, he has no right to forcibly detain a patient
who is competent and not a danger to himself or others.
6 Invasion of privacy is likely to occur in the healthcare setting if
healthcare professionals do not maintain the confidentiality of patient
records.
7 All patients have the right to expect that healthcare professionals
will maintain the confidentiality of medical records.