Arozay
Member
You make it sound like a mob hit.
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Victim of prank call to Kate Middleton hospital found dead in suspected suicide
- Thread starter zomgbbqftw
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You make it sound like a mob hit.
LOL, is this guy for real?
If I were talking about a mob hit you can rest assured I'd want much more than a sacking.
reptilescorpio
Member
The DJ's are idiots but they didn't mean to destroy her life, that was not their intent.
They made a poor decision to even go through with the half arsed idea but the real issue is that the managers at the station ran the bit without any consent.
It was clear from what was said that the nurse was misled and would result in repercussions for her (as well as the hospital).
I can't believe that the DJ's wanted to go on the lowest grade interview shows we have in the country to explain themselves when the safest and most open option would have been a press conference, the station itself is at fault for not letting them go ahead with that. The station even refused to let them talk to the ABC as they were only letting commercial media entities interview them, which is just ridiculous.
The DJ's have gone though a lot of shit, and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives because of what has happened to this nurse and her family. They will never forget it.
They fucked up but that doesn't mean they should be drawn and quartered.
Fuck the station though. Whoever has been making those decisions hasn't been doing the right thing.
Pretty rough to cancel the Christmas party for the entire station though, punishing everyone for the actions of a very few.
They made a poor decision to even go through with the half arsed idea but the real issue is that the managers at the station ran the bit without any consent.
It was clear from what was said that the nurse was misled and would result in repercussions for her (as well as the hospital).
I can't believe that the DJ's wanted to go on the lowest grade interview shows we have in the country to explain themselves when the safest and most open option would have been a press conference, the station itself is at fault for not letting them go ahead with that. The station even refused to let them talk to the ABC as they were only letting commercial media entities interview them, which is just ridiculous.
The DJ's have gone though a lot of shit, and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives because of what has happened to this nurse and her family. They will never forget it.
They fucked up but that doesn't mean they should be drawn and quartered.
Fuck the station though. Whoever has been making those decisions hasn't been doing the right thing.
Pretty rough to cancel the Christmas party for the entire station though, punishing everyone for the actions of a very few.
That's who I want to see face repercussions.
There's so much sanctimonious bullshit spewing around the world and in this thread it's unbelievable. Prank calls happen around the world, done by DJs and the like and even done by members of the public every day. Even police chiefs can get pranked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lIRr3DZzxc
It wasn't idiotic, it was just a bit of light fun. They were probably expecting a bit of light banter with the receptionist, but they got put through and engaged with a bit of light banter with the second nurse. They didn't try to dig up "private" medical information. The whole world knows Kate is pregnant and is throwing up. Big deal. It was "Hi I'm the queen, How's Kate? when can I see her? kthxbye"
The fact the nurse got into trouble, well that's her own fault for not doing her job properly, or the hospital's job for not training her properly to deal with the call. So the prank call is a good tool for society, just like defense lawyers, investigate journalists and whistleblowers. It exposed the failures of the hospital and opened up their eyes so that they may take action to reduce this in future. So the next time if it is a malicious caller it is more likely to be stopped. The hospital should be thanking the journalists for showing their security failures.
As for the nurse killing herself, yeah it's a tragedy. Maybe she was mentally ill and if it wasn't this maybe it would have been something else that set her off. Or maybe she had corrupt values and valued her own image more than the wellbeing of her own children. Either way it's got nothing to do with the prank call and more to do with her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lIRr3DZzxc
It wasn't idiotic, it was just a bit of light fun. They were probably expecting a bit of light banter with the receptionist, but they got put through and engaged with a bit of light banter with the second nurse. They didn't try to dig up "private" medical information. The whole world knows Kate is pregnant and is throwing up. Big deal. It was "Hi I'm the queen, How's Kate? when can I see her? kthxbye"
The fact the nurse got into trouble, well that's her own fault for not doing her job properly, or the hospital's job for not training her properly to deal with the call. So the prank call is a good tool for society, just like defense lawyers, investigate journalists and whistleblowers. It exposed the failures of the hospital and opened up their eyes so that they may take action to reduce this in future. So the next time if it is a malicious caller it is more likely to be stopped. The hospital should be thanking the journalists for showing their security failures.
As for the nurse killing herself, yeah it's a tragedy. Maybe she was mentally ill and if it wasn't this maybe it would have been something else that set her off. Or maybe she had corrupt values and valued her own image more than the wellbeing of her own children. Either way it's got nothing to do with the prank call and more to do with her.
Count Dookkake
Member
And a Bababooey to y'all.
What's more believable, that she killed herself over this prank or that she was killed for inadvertently leaking private information?
Maddox's post on his website pretty much reflects my feelings on the matter.
http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=suicide_blame
http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=suicide_blame
Yes. Instead we should blame the woman who committed suicide. Maddox should stick to "jokes."
D.Lo
Member
She's the only person who knew what the outcome of her actions would be in the scenario. The DJs didn't abandon their family.
There are many factors at work:
The Royals for having their treatment at that hospital
The lax security at the hospital during the Royals' stay
The lack of proper training offered by the NHS to the nurses
The radio station producers
The radio station presenters
The media circus after the incident
The hospital bosses who failed to support the nurse after the incident
But in the end, the suicide blame lies with only one person.
Well...shouldn't we?
travisbickle
Member
Did the nurse understand it was a prank radio call before she killed herself?
I thought the problem was the Radio show hadn't contacted the hospital to explain it was a prank call, and the lady killed herself after being reprimanded for not clearing calls correctly.
And then after the fact everyone at the hospital is saying they did enough to console the nurse, which sounds like bullshit considering she killed herself.
I thought the problem was the Radio show hadn't contacted the hospital to explain it was a prank call, and the lady killed herself after being reprimanded for not clearing calls correctly.
And then after the fact everyone at the hospital is saying they did enough to console the nurse, which sounds like bullshit considering she killed herself.
FlutterPuffs
Member
I hate prank calls. I've always felt that it's jokes at the expense of someone else. So I'm on the side of the family blaming the DJs.
Prank calls are borderline bullying. I know I can take those jokes but I'm sure that there are a few out there who just can't. Some just can't take being embarrassed in public, so do we blame them for not being strong enough, or should we at least try to do such things with a little bit more restraint.
Depression is not an easy thing to control and some of us are barely keeping it in.
I feel sorry for her husband and kids but depression, as I said, is a motherfucker.
Prank calls are borderline bullying. I know I can take those jokes but I'm sure that there are a few out there who just can't. Some just can't take being embarrassed in public, so do we blame them for not being strong enough, or should we at least try to do such things with a little bit more restraint.
Depression is not an easy thing to control and some of us are barely keeping it in.
I feel sorry for her husband and kids but depression, as I said, is a motherfucker.
If all you did was patch a prank call through to another nurse and you barely even communicated with the pranksters, then you commit suicide, there was A LOT more at play than the prank call.
It is extremely disingenuous to put even a moderate amount of blame on the radio hosts. They may not be as funny as Opie, Anthony, and Jimmy Norton, but they had effectively jack all to do with this idiot ending her life.
There would have been little backlash against her publicly, when all was said and done. In fact, the public would have been behind her and against the radio show hosts.
Wow
travisbickle
Member
What's with the inappropriate comments about the lady who committed suicide.
Bunch of self-actualized alpha hard-asses we got over here.
It's called being mindful of your actions because you cannot know what everyone's breaking limit is. You are always responsible for the direct consequences of your actions. Best case scenario that lady was severely reprimanded or even fired. Worst case she kills herself. None of which would have happened without their interference.
It's called being mindful of your actions because you cannot know what everyone's breaking limit is. You are always responsible for the direct consequences of your actions. Best case scenario that lady was severely reprimanded or even fired. Worst case she kills herself. None of which would have happened without their interference.
soundahfekz
Member
damn, this thread is a low key graveyard. Sad situation and DJ's took it too far. RIP
Unless she was mentally ill in which case her responsibility is diminished.
The direct consequences were they got put through. What happened to the nurse was indirectly related to the actions of the DJs. They were however direct consequences of her actions(not doing her job properly).
I'm sorry but can't believe the DJ's are getting blamed for this. It was a dumb prank call and it's shocking enough the lady who committed suicide even took it seriously let alone took it the way she did. I mean fuck, a prank call of this stupidity?
I mean really?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MjPPMLlZqo
My guess is the Hospital staff gave her a grilling the way she just lobbed off the phone to her colleague without much of a whim, and was ruffled because of that. Either way, I feel unbelievably sorry for the radio hosts. Seriously, this was one of the tamest prank calls I've ever heard. Just so unfortunate they happened to call someone who was quite possibly very mentally unstable. Either way, it is a tragic set of events on all fronts, but I don't think the DJ's should be lambasted for it to the extent they are.
I mean really?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MjPPMLlZqo
My guess is the Hospital staff gave her a grilling the way she just lobbed off the phone to her colleague without much of a whim, and was ruffled because of that. Either way, I feel unbelievably sorry for the radio hosts. Seriously, this was one of the tamest prank calls I've ever heard. Just so unfortunate they happened to call someone who was quite possibly very mentally unstable. Either way, it is a tragic set of events on all fronts, but I don't think the DJ's should be lambasted for it to the extent they are.
No they didn't. It was a very harmless call and that really should have been that.
The retarded amount of media pushing te story is the real shame here and now we have the tabloids begging for blood and pretending to be offended and insulted by the actions of "2 stupid Australian radio hosts"
The whole thing is a media beat up and once again at the center is the brittish tabloids.
Fuck, even prince Charles was joking about it in the days after the call.
Blaming the DJ's for her death over such an extremely tame "prank call" is crazy talk. The woman clearly had deeper issues and the DJ's could not have known that, it's not as if they knew she had mental problems and picked on her. Hell they barely even spoke to her. But of course GAF will continue to insist they killed her and we should throw people in jail over silly jokes and pranks so that no one will ever again be offended and peace will return to the universe.
So they call the switchboard and she puts them through to another nurse. They spoke for all of 10 seconds. Yet, they are even remotely responsible for her suicide?
What's with the inappropriate blame game? I think it is more inappropriate to lie the blame of someone's death on two innocent people than to call a suicide victim an idiot.
If your breaking limit is patching someone through to another nurse on a switchboard, there is something wrong. So much more wrong in your life that the call has nothing to do with it.
And yea, it seems like she would have killed herself anyway. A rude cashier at the supermarket would have seemingly the same affect.
This is what it boils down to. My guess is she committed suicide because of the rollicking she got from her seniors, the nurse and maybe even husband/family about this. It was a global embarrassment that the two nurses fell for it, and I'm sure the top heads at the hospital were none too pleased. But in all fairness, she really should have handled the call better. She gave it up way too easy, and even fell for the terrible accents.
ElectricBlue187
Member
you don't know any of that
The real people to blame are the station lawyers, program directors and anyone else in charge that gave the bit the OK to air.
Not really. It depends entirely on the information and circumstances.
What the nurse gave out in the 30 second conversation was really nothing the press didn't already know from official releases.
What the nurse face if anything was a conduct hearing and most likely an afternoon of retraining in security practices.
arts&crafts
Member
I am not hating on people who commit suicide, I have/ do suffer from depression and can see how suicide may seem like a valid option. But this has to be the worst reason to commit suicide ever. I mean the Royals are glorified celebrities and she had MORNING SICKNESS...it is really tragic how this turned out, but the nurse obviously had prior mental illness.
travisbickle
Member
What she did was a sackable offense. That's why when the clip was broadcast on the radio in Australia, before any knowledge of the suicide, 1000s of people complained. The prank had the nurse commit a breach of security, something she will have been reprimanded for and something she could have been sacked for.
Prank calling a hospital is already crossing a line, but then to actually broadcast that stuff... Don't think you can blame the DJs directly for her death, but it's good that radiostations are reminded of their limits again.
Didn't they consult with the hospital first? I don't see why it should not have been aired, unless the information the nurse gave away could be regarded as personal and not for public broadcast etc. Not much wrong with it really besides the embarrassment of the staff or hospital in allowing themselves to be fooled by such an obvious prank. I've no idea of the legalities of it, fact that it was aired I'm guessing means it was fine . Mistakes do happen ultimately, and the top brass probably shouldn't have fired or reprimanded the nurses so severely, if they even did. The call has only really become an issue since the suicide, which happened days after.
I do think the first nurse made a huge mistake in just handing the call over so quickly. It was a very silly thing to do, but I guess she was scared, overwhelmed, under immense pressure and not thinking straight.
People have been fired for talking about a patient on a bus when a relative happened to be there. The information is confidential, no matter what it is or how harmless it may seem.
While I can't attest for nursing in Britain I can say it is a high stress job in the US. You usually have to juggle several patients depending on what floor you are on, you are treated like shit on occasion and you have to go above and beyond to help patients when the time calls for it.
HIPAA is serious business in hospitals and has ruined some promising careers because they really crack down on hospital staff who break it even if it was accidental.
Long story short don't prank call hospitals. It doesn't carry the same repercussions as prank calling 911 but considering the damage it can do to someone's career it really should.
What else would she do? She only transfered the call.
If the blame lies anywhere about the release of the information, it is fully in the hands of the nurse who gave out the information over the phone, which I am pretty sure you are not allowed to do as you cannot confirm the relation of the person over the phone.
Again, the nurse who gave out the info is NOT the one who committed suicide.
Meh, she left behind kids and other family. I have more compassion for them.
And like I said, the information she gave out had already been officially given to the press.
It's a very different situation to the one you are describing and in no way related.
Ok, in reviewing posts and thinking about the situation, perhaps prank calls to hospitals are taking things a step too far, especially given the sensitive nature of hospital care and service in the first place. Really, any time wasting measure, especially for entertainment, should not be able to get in the way. Nurses and staff at hospitals I'm sure have better and far more pressing things to do than worry about prank calls.
Having said that, I still don't think the DJ's should be to blame for the suicide. Did they take it a bit too far? Sure. But ultimately it's just an unfortunate and tragic set of events. Not sure anyone is really to blame. But perhaps top brass at the radio station should have stepped in and either not allowed the call to take place, or not aired it. That and the nurse (not the one who passed the call and committed suicide) should not have given out the information she did, but even then, you can't really lambast her too much for that. Who knows really.
Having said that, I still don't think the DJ's should be to blame for the suicide. Did they take it a bit too far? Sure. But ultimately it's just an unfortunate and tragic set of events. Not sure anyone is really to blame. But perhaps top brass at the radio station should have stepped in and either not allowed the call to take place, or not aired it. That and the nurse (not the one who passed the call and committed suicide) should not have given out the information she did, but even then, you can't really lambast her too much for that. Who knows really.
DragonSworne
Banned
HIPAA laws are only violated if you reveal information that can identify the patient.
Simply talking about a patient on the bus or to someone else is not a violation. Some you give out their name, etc it is.
Otherwise nurses and doctors would not be able to communicate with insurance companies and people within the insurance companies couldn't communicate with each other.
In either case, this is a clear violation of medical privacy laws on both sides of the story. The DJs and the nurses violated laws, the DJs being the worst offenders of it.
Simply talking about a patient on the bus or to someone else is not a violation. Some you give out their name, etc it is.
Otherwise nurses and doctors would not be able to communicate with insurance companies and people within the insurance companies couldn't communicate with each other.
In either case, this is a clear violation of medical privacy laws on both sides of the story. The DJs and the nurses violated laws, the DJs being the worst offenders of it.
radioheadrule83
Banned
I agree with this.
I think the posters shitting on the poor nurse who took her own life are completely lacking in empathy and compassion -- you can't possibly know what its like to have the media invasively prying into your life and threatening to destroy your career, reputation and livelihood - and the sheer embarrassment, of having your naivete exposed, ridiculed and angrily derided on an international scale. It's not the radio hosts who did that (although their stunt sparked all of this into action), and it's not the victim of the call who did that to herself either... it's our ridiculous celebrity obsessed culture and shitty tabloids, who have nothing better to write about. Nobody cared about this enough that this woman had to be put under pressure until she killed herself. Nobody.
Aside from maybe the broadsheets, we don't have newspapers in this country. We have fucking comic books for reactionary idiots.
Emerson
May contain jokes =>
I genuinely cannot believe the DJs are actually being blamed for this by anyone. How such a modern, educated world can completely miss the fucking point is beyond me.
DJs make prank calls. There's no harm in that. A healthy person would not commit suicide due to being the victim of one.
Paparazzi/media culture is horrible. But again, a healthy person would not commit suicide due to being the victim of it.
This woman was depressed, and as happens every single time with one of these cases everybody seems to miss the point that depression is a medical condition and to ascribe it to a couple of morning DJs is possibly the most ignorant and inaccurate thing you could do. A person who is depressed and suicidal could be driven to suicide by any event. As a podcaster I listen to (can't remember which) said recently, would you blame a man if he broke up with his girlfriend and she killed herself? No. There can be no reasonable expectation that he would know what would happen.
I feel terrible for this woman for having whatever underlying depression she clearly did, for being the victim of the prank that noone could have foreseen leading to her death, for being the center of media bullshit, and for taking her own life. The answer to this problem is not to lock two DJs away. It's to do away with this media culture, and more importantly, educate ourselves on what depression is and what it isn't.
DJs make prank calls. There's no harm in that. A healthy person would not commit suicide due to being the victim of one.
Paparazzi/media culture is horrible. But again, a healthy person would not commit suicide due to being the victim of it.
This woman was depressed, and as happens every single time with one of these cases everybody seems to miss the point that depression is a medical condition and to ascribe it to a couple of morning DJs is possibly the most ignorant and inaccurate thing you could do. A person who is depressed and suicidal could be driven to suicide by any event. As a podcaster I listen to (can't remember which) said recently, would you blame a man if he broke up with his girlfriend and she killed herself? No. There can be no reasonable expectation that he would know what would happen.
I feel terrible for this woman for having whatever underlying depression she clearly did, for being the victim of the prank that noone could have foreseen leading to her death, for being the center of media bullshit, and for taking her own life. The answer to this problem is not to lock two DJs away. It's to do away with this media culture, and more importantly, educate ourselves on what depression is and what it isn't.
plagiarize
Banned
of course the media are trying to focus all the blame on the DJs. they're as culpable as whoever decided to broadcast the bit on the radio in Australia for the climate of shame that no doubt spurred this nurse into making a horrible terrible mistake.
she's to blame too, but you can't expect the family to blame her. if she'd been better at her job it wouldn't have happened. if the DJs hadn't made the prank call, her poor skills wouldn't have been exposed at that moment in time. if the radio station hadn't greenlit the segment, nothing would have happened. if the press world wide hadn't created an outcry over the skit nothing would have happened. if the nurse hadn't commited suicide, well, she'd still be alive.
so I count her as culpable twice. if I call her an idiot, it's for not seeing through an awful impersonation of the queen, and for not knowing that Kate Middleton wasn't the Queen's grand daughter. red flags all over the place. being depressed when your inability to do your job is being discussed globally and not thinking clearly and understanding it'll all blow over in a week or two and choosing to kill yourself doesn't make you stupid though.
just clinically depressed and not thinking clearly.
but, yeah, damn. that accent? 'my granddaughter'? pretty stupid to fall for that given a patient you should have been 100% careful for.
edit: but I don't think we should pretend she was depressed before this event, like we know that, because we don't.
she's to blame too, but you can't expect the family to blame her. if she'd been better at her job it wouldn't have happened. if the DJs hadn't made the prank call, her poor skills wouldn't have been exposed at that moment in time. if the radio station hadn't greenlit the segment, nothing would have happened. if the press world wide hadn't created an outcry over the skit nothing would have happened. if the nurse hadn't commited suicide, well, she'd still be alive.
so I count her as culpable twice. if I call her an idiot, it's for not seeing through an awful impersonation of the queen, and for not knowing that Kate Middleton wasn't the Queen's grand daughter. red flags all over the place. being depressed when your inability to do your job is being discussed globally and not thinking clearly and understanding it'll all blow over in a week or two and choosing to kill yourself doesn't make you stupid though.
just clinically depressed and not thinking clearly.
but, yeah, damn. that accent? 'my granddaughter'? pretty stupid to fall for that given a patient you should have been 100% careful for.
edit: but I don't think we should pretend she was depressed before this event, like we know that, because we don't.
I guess I should've clarified this. The reason I mentioned this particular case is that they never mentioned the persons name, but what they talked about was enough for the relative to recognize who they were talking about.
It's still not information you can just hand out to anyone.
A prank that could result in someone losing their job isn't harmless
Emerson
May contain jokes =>
Again it isn't their fault that the woman didn't follow regulations that she should have.
And, even if you grant that the DJs were out of line and should have had an expectation that their call would lead to the woman losing her job, you're still lightyears away from being able to argue they're culpable for her death.
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