Soldiers family distressed by graphic article

STELLARTON A doctor's graphic, published account of a Stellarton soldier's death in Afghanistan is raising ethical questions by members of his family.

Kevin Patterson, a former captain and medical officer in the Canadian military, gives a first-person account of treating coalition soldiers and Afghan residents in an article titled, Talk to Me Like My Father: Frontline Medicine in Afghanistan, which appears in the July/August issue of Mother Jones, an independent, non-profit magazine based in San Francisco.

In one segment, Patterson describes in explicit detail the medical efforts used to try to save Megeney after he was rushed into an emergency ward on March 6 following what the military termed an accidental shooting.

The soldier's uncle, George Megeney, said the graphic medical descriptions were hard to swallow, even as a former police officer whose wife is a nurse.

"Had he not identified Kevin, it would have been bad enough," he said.

The use of the soldier's name and lack of permission from the family to identify him  has Megeney questioning the author's ethics.

He said the first the family heard of the article was when he and Kevin's parents received a letter from Mother Jones advising them that the magazine was publishing a story with graphic content about the death, and offering to send them copies of the magazine prior to publication.

Lynette Reid, assistant professor of bioethics at Dalhousie University Medical School, said the boundaries of doctor/patient confidentiality are "fairly clear" when a member of the public receives medical advice or treatment from a physician, it is expected that it will be kept private and confidential.

That expectation and obligation continue even after a patient's death, said Reid.

"If I read an article like this, I would assume that the doctor had the patient's or family's permission (to use the name) and I would be very surprised if they didn't."

Reid said there can be situations where it's in the public's interest to share certain medical information, but that doesn't negate the need to obtain permission.

"There might be a good reason to publish this but it's up to the family or up to the person."

Megeney said Kevin's father, Dexter Megeney, notified a Department of National Defence contact about the article.

He said the soldier's parents don't feel comfortable making a statement about it while National Defence is still looking into it.

The News was unable to reach a department spokesperson by press time.

The military is still investigating the circumstances of the soldier's death.