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Image Courtesy of Jeffrey M. Vinocur |
Today’s New York Times features
a troubling story about a hospital
that allowed reality TV camera crews to film Mr. Mark Chanko, a trauma
patient’s dying moments after he was rushed to the hospital after being struck by a truck.
The hospital acted without Mr. Chanko's consent, and never notified his family that Mr. Chanko's death was filmed, or might be broadcast on television.
One night, completely unexpectedly, his wife,
Mrs. Anita Chanko, was distressed to hear her deceased husband’s anguished voice
crying out in his final moments, on an ABC reality show.
The couple’s daughter, Pamela, who also saw
the show, suffered emotional distress after witnessing the graphic details of her
father’s gruesome death.
The hospital's prior vice president of public affairs once said of the show, “You can’t buy this kind of publicity, an eight-part series
on a major broadcast network.” In this blog post, I will
discuss legal steps you can take to protect your rights, and to avoid your family's anguish being used for publicity.