Medical robot tells man he is dying

A man suffering from lung failure was told he was going to die by a doctor talking through a robot-mounted video screen at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Fremont, California. 

Instead of being informed by a qualified doctor, 79-year-old Quintana was told of his fate through a RP-VITA telepresence robot equipped with a video screen.

Quintana's family was devastated by the incident, and implored the hospital to use human-beings to deliver news of this type. Hospital staff said they were acting in accordance with a new Kaiser Permanente policy. 

However, a company spokesperson said in a statement it was a 'highly unusual circumstance,' and that it would use it 'as an opportunity to review our practices and standards with the care team.'

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://apnews.com/article/a13a6811157b412fb79909b36146d646

• http://www.fox5ny.com/news/doctor-tells-patient-he-doesn-t-have-long-to-live-through-hospital-robot-s-video-screen

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47510038

• https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/03/08/kaiser-patient-told-dying-robot-doctor-video-call/

• https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kaiser-permanente-medical-center-california-man-learns-he-is-dying-from-doctor-on-robot-video-2019-03-09/

• https://abc13.com/man-told-hes-going-to-die-by-robot-kaiser-doctor-machine-death/5179207/

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6787793/California-man-learns-hes-dying-doctor-robot-video.html

• https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/Man-at-Kaiser-in-Fremont-informed-he-would-die-13675012.php

• https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/09/california-hospital-robot-delivers-end-life-news-family-outraged/3113760002/

• https://news.sky.com/story/california-hospital-defends-use-of-robot-that-told-patient-he-was-going-to-die-11660604