It was a single video in a Buenos Aires guard.
It is known exactly which patient recorded it and which doctor recorded it.
It was something very specific in the City.
But it caused a
political effect inside and outside that jurisdiction.
Now it can also become evidence in a court case.
Last Wednesday, at night and escorted by security personnel, a surgeon from the Argerich Hospital guard found himself cornered by a problem that exceeds him and that also surpasses those who scolded him for the delay in being treated:
the flood of patients from the Province that saturate Health care in the City.
The doctor, who
requested express reservation of his name and surname in this note,
became a kind of martyr for the cause.
But he never sought this viral fame.
One that - as this newspaper confirmed - went much further and even earned him
a call from the Buenos Aires Minister of Health, Fernán Quiróz, in a timely sign of empathy.
The doctor who was filmed in the Argerich guard could sue those who took the images.
Photo: Maxi Failla
While on this issue the Head of Government, Jorge Macri, warned that work is being done on how to prioritize the people of Buenos Aires in health care in the City, the surgeon is already evaluating initiating a case for
violation of the Right to the Image
.
If it happens, it will be against those patients who, after three hours in the waiting room, picked up their cell phone and recorded the scene in which he told them that he was
"overwhelmed."
That "they haven't invented the bunk bed yet."
That he asked them what neighborhood they came from, guessing that they were all from Greater Buenos Aires, and that, he told them, "none of them are from La Boca" and that they should wait their turn, "because everyone comes here" and
an accident had occurred that required performs several intubations.
The image went viral.
An Argerich doctor explains to a group of patients that they must wait for their attention.
If the case is indeed initiated, there are several regulatory aspects that would give rise to the presentation of the file.
The issue is analyzed because, at a minimum, in cases of
use of the image without consent,
the Civil and Commercial Code provides
compensation for the damages caused.
The concrete thing is that as of this Wednesday, seven days after that saturation in that guard, there is no presentation made.
The thing is that in addition to the basics established by the study, work is being done on what the cause would be
.
Not only must the magnitude of the eventual damage to the doctor be defined, but perhaps see if the file would also go beyond demanding compensation from those who recorded with the cell phone.
Analyze if it is possible to act as a block.
It is that line, the cause is being evaluated together with the
Association of Municipal Doctors.
Those who bring together the union in the City compare the "escrache" in the Argerich with the barred guards, to protect health personnel from physical attacks.
"
We have to take care of our doctors
. And society does not seem to understand it. This doctor
is already very exposed.
And politicians are busy fighting among themselves instead of solving people's problems, quality of care and working conditions," they say to this newspaper.
But the issue of protecting the image of doctors is more complex than putting up a physical fence.
As happens in banks, with security personnel who can demand not to use the cell phone (and they do, in addition to the fact that clients have already internalized it), it does not happen in the guards.
The differences in context are abysmal.
In this case, the aim would not be to prohibit the use of cell phones on duty, at a time when patients need to be in communication with family members regarding this health situation, but rather to avoid
the use of these images without permission.
These judicial actions would be directed against anyone who captures it without consent.
Even, based on the previous initiative of the Municipal Doctors, also in Greater Buenos Aires, although to a lesser extent, there are signs to explain the
prohibition of photos and videos in health centers.
Article 53 of the Civil and Commercial Code, referring to the Right to the Image, establishes this
express consent.
Something that has been in effect since 2015.
But, of course, it includes three exceptions.
That that person (of whom the image is used) participates in public events;
that there is a priority scientific, cultural or educational interest, and sufficient precautions are taken to avoid unnecessary harm;
and that it is about the
regular exercise of the right to report on events of general interest.
In the guards, as said above, the signage is not enough.
"It is not easy to comply with this rule. It is not the obligation of the Buenos Aires Ministry of Health to enforce it.
Security personnel can request that the cell phone not be used (for example, in a discussion situation with a doctor) and sometimes asks for it. But it is not easy at all. It is much more difficult in the Province and forget about it happening in the interior of the country,"
a criminal lawyer specialized in the Right to Health tells
Clarín .
The Right to the Image also applies to protect those who do not have both.
"In order to
protect the confidentiality of patient data
, it is prohibited to taste images, videos or audios, and/or record medical reports without the express consent of the acting professional," explained the lawyer.
The project that prioritizes Buenos Aires
On Tuesday morning, the Head of Government, Jorge Macri, gave visibility to a project that, he said, had been being worked on since before the Argerich viral video.
This also generated a controversy with the Provincial Government.
The communication about this project did arise from the controversy with that surgeon on duty, who asked the patients, all of whom had arrived from Greater Buenos Aires,
to wait their turn.
This plan will include the 48 Health and Community Action Centers (Cesac), plus another 3 under construction, so there will be almost one per neighborhood.
And the two Reference Ambulatory Medical Specialty Centers (Cemar) in Barracas and La Paternal, to which two others will be added that will be built on the route of the former AU 3, in Saavedra, and in Palermo, as confirmed by the Minister of Buenos Aires health, Fernán Quirós, in dialogue with
Clarín.
There will be a total of four care centers of medium complexity and diagnosis, to which residents will arrive after referrals from their family doctors, in which priority will be given to those who live in the City.
These spaces will have external offices and different studies will be carried out, from laboratory analyzes to MRIs, ultrasounds, or tomography scans.
S.C.