Following the reports of former Big Brother Nigeria (BBN) Housemate, Patrick Fakoya, popularly known by his stage name “Rico Swavey” being involved in a ghastly accident, the hospital has come under fire for allowing his video leak.
The video showed the almost lifeless Rico in critical condition as a background voice scolded those making the video to stop.
Investigations carried out by QUEST TIMES reveal that there were clear violations of the patient’s privacy and gross professional misconduct on the part of the hospital.
This is not the first time videos of patients have been leaked while in critical conditions, but some have been with the consent of the patients themselves or that of their family members.
According to Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended): “The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.”
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While the constitution does not clarify how the privacy of Nigerians should be protected, it is advisable to seek consent from all participants before recording phone calls and conversations.
Recording a patient in a highly regulated setting like a hospital without their consent may expose them to danger and the institution can be held liable under the law.
QUEST TIMES team watched the video multiple times to ascertain the intentions of the recording.
We reached out to a senior medical personnel at a government-owned hospital and he said such video leak is an abuse on the right of the individual.
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He explained that; “officially, it is unprofessional for any video recording of a patient to go viral without the consent of the patient; it violates the rights of the patients.”
Though he said videos can be made in some cases to protect the hospital against litigations, it is unacceptable to release same for public consumption without their patients’ consent or that of their families.
Another medic who works for a private medical facility said what the Hospital did was very unprofessional and unacceptable under any circumstances.
Some medical lawyers are of the view that Rico’s family could sue for such unprofessional breach of his privacy.