Legal considerations regarding the responsibility of the mass media on the veracity of medical information disseminated to the public

Abstract

The responsibility of the mass media on the veracity of information in the medical field disseminated to the public is a subject of real interest both for practitioners working within the health system and for media trusts, considering the numerous situations that have occurred so far in Romania in regarding the image damage caused to the medical staff as a result of the transmission of false or erroneous information regarding the activity carried out. In order to carry out this observational-prospective study, a questionnaire was prepared consisting of 10 closed questions with yes or no answers, which had the role of evaluating the patients' opinion regarding the degree of influence of their opinion on the activity carried out by the medical staff, as a result of the information transmitted in the mass media. After completing the completion period, the questionnaires were centralized and analyzed statistically. Most of the patients included in the study were of the opinion that there is a very high risk that the image and professional prestige of the medical staff will be affected when the information transmitted through the mass media is not in agreement with reality, which indicates the need of existence of solid legal levers through which press trusts can be held accountable when they commit such slips. The main conclusion of this study focuses on the identification and sanctioning of those active in the mass media every time there is a violation of the rules of a legal and ethical nature regarding the transmission of false/erroneous information related to the professional activity of the medical staff.