Web sites such as www.cancerpage.com offer cancer patients sophisticated medical data and advice in exchange for personal information that is then sold to advertisers and business partners and used by the Web sites to create products to sell back to patients.
Some argue that cancer patients visiting these sites are willingly exchanging their personal information for the sites' medical information. Others contend that this kind of exchange is unethical.
Questions
1. Is this practice ethical?
2. Does the AMA Statement of Ethics have anything to say about this issue? Go to www.marketingpower.com and review the statement. Then, write a brief paragraph on what the AMA Statement of Ethics contains that relates to this situation.