I doubt that peer-reviewed journals are going away even in my lifetime, but scientific publishing is trending away from a closed review process towards a more open one. In all areas of life, people increasingly and willingly are giving all sorts of personal information the probably wouldn’t even 10 years ago for the sake of convenience, and while I do think that due diligence for privacy concerns ALWAYS needs to be in place, for better or worse, the overall trend in all sectors is transparency, openness, and free collaboration. The authors didn’t represent the opposite by any means, but forward progress can be halted by many little weights, I suppose.

Anyway, at this point I think I’m more musing than responding, so I’ll leave it at that. Thanks for sharing!

I get a completely different take from the editorial than you do! However, I believe that you and the editorial writers share many views in common.

To me, the point that they are making is that the blogs DO change the way information is processed and presented. They point out, as you would agree, that “The ease and accessibility of blogs have altered the hierarchy of influence and power.” They are, I believe, confirming what you imply – that the balance of influence between the “traditional” medical media and the medical blogs is rapidly shifting.

That said, the editorial is a sharp reminder that bloggers can be too easily drawn into places where patients’ privacy can be compromised and unanswered ad hominem attacks can occur. The peer-reviewed journals have long since addressed these issues; when I published an essay in JAMA last year about a patient, they required a signed release even though there was only an oblique possibility that the patient would recognize himself. Had I posted the same story on my blog, there would have been no such requirement.

So, I guess I am saying that the editorial’s writers are acknowledging what you already know: The blogs are important, growing, and increasingly influential. Blogs have yet to universally recognize the need to be uncompromisingly responsible. Dr. Rob has taken us all in that direction by developing the HCBE.

As a disclaimer, I have met Jay Baruch – he is an accomplished teacher of the Medical Humanities and a terrific writer (check out his remarkable book Fourteen Stories). Nevertheless, I applaud their Society’s Ethics Committee’s willingness to take a stand on the need for guidelines for their blogging members. Emergency Physicians and Nurses seem to have a disproportionate presence in the blogoshere.

Sorry to go on so long, but your thoughtful piece deserved a response. Thanks!