The reality TV show “Trauma: Life in the ER” was filmed at 35 hospitals in 23 states over a five-year period. Now lawyers are pursuing would-be class actions against the New York Times’ television subsidiary, Discovery Communications, and various hospitals claiming that the privacy consent given by patients and family members was defective or obtained under false pretenses. Despite protests from defendants that the issue of validity of consent is intrinsically one that requires case-by-case determination, a New Jersey judge has certified a class action for lawsuits within that state. The judge estimated that the number of potential class members nationwide might reach into the hundreds of thousands. (Charles Toutant, “Hospital Patients Filmed for Reality TV Certified as Plaintiff Class”, New Jersey Law Journal, Jun. 20). Florida Masochist notes (Jun. 24) that a plaintiff’s lawyer suing in Orlando, per the Sentinel coverage, “said the lawsuit doesn’t question the right to broadcast the material, but the filming and production process”. (Pedro Ruz Gutierrez, “Patients sue over TV appearances”, Orlando Sentinel, Jun. 24). That sounds puzzling: if the persons suing aren’t objecting to the broadcast of the material, how seriously were they injured by the alleged affront to their privacy?
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