Doctors Sharing Too Much on Social Media?

The head of a board that regulates physicians says something needs to be done about doctors sharing way too much with their patients on social media sites like Facebook.

Medical Examining Board Chairman Sheldon Wasserman says doctors have traditionally maintained a certain distance from the people they treat. But Wasserman says that has changed with the advent of sites like Facebook.Wasserman says doctors are friending patients. And he says he’s seen several Facebook pictures of medical residents that would normally be kept private, “Picture after picture shows them drunk, drugged out, smoking pot. You know, doing crazy things.”

Wasserman, an obstetrician and former Democratic state lawmaker, says he’s not sure where the state should draw the line, whether it be restricting who a doctor can “friend” or what they can post on Facebook, “It was very easy in the old days that you could say no, you don’t put pictures of yourself drunk on websites. Or you don’t take pictures and show it to your patients. But here you are doing that.”

Wasserman says he plans to raise the issue with the Medical Examining Board when it meets next week. The board is composed of appointees from Republican Gov. Scott Walker and former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle.