Trauma: Life in The E.R. - Controversy

Controversy

Trauma was one of TLC's most controversial shows from the beginning because it did not sugar-coat or downplay the violent nature of the cases that usually end up in a big-city trauma center. The show carries a disclaimer at the beginning and on the opening frames of every return-from-commercial bumper: "Due to the graphic nature of this program, viewer discretion is advised". The warning is needed because the show does not shy away from letting the viewer see blood, guts, or even patient death. When the show debuted in 1997, such graphic presentations on television were quite rare.

Trauma was one of the first reality shows to deal with the controversial issue of health care professionals and blood-borne disease exposure. An episode set in San Antonio, Texas featured an E.R. intern who was stuck with a needle from suturing up a patient whose health history was completely unknown, including the extensive medical testing and anti-viral drugs the intern needed to take to ensure she did not contract any diseases from the patient. Another episode set in Nashville, Tennessee featured a trauma surgical resident who was accidentally stuck with a needle while treating a patient who had shot himself after discovering he had Hepatitis C; the surgical resident was found to be negative for Hepatitis C but still went through the months of anti-viral medications to ensure he did not later develop the disease.

Episodes shot for both Trauma and Code Blue in New Orleans, Louisiana featured Dr. Eduardo Marvez-Valls, coordinator of E.R. and Trauma Medical Residents at Charity Hospital. Marvez-Valls, whose reputation as a dedicated instructor and physician was often featured in interviews with the doctors featured in Trauma and Code Blue, was both openly homosexual (Code Blue frequently featured Marvez-Valls at his home in the French Quarter, which he shared with his longtime partner, Robert Ripley) and suffering from end-stage AIDS. Dr. Marvez-Valls did not perform tasks that would involve excessive exposure to needles, such as suturing or IV insertion, but he continued diagnosing and treating patients in the E.R. and Trauma services at Charity Hospital even after the hospital was shut down by Hurricane Katrina, practicing medicine in tents and other temporary emergency rooms until his death from AIDS-related kidney disease in 2006 at the age of 52.

Patient privacy concerns have dogged Trauma from the beginning. In 2005, two men in Florida whose cases were featured on the show sued the producers for breach of privacy, claiming show crew and producers would disguise themselves as hospital personnel to obtain release signatures for the taped footage under false pretenses. Charles Sims, an attorney for the show's producers, has dismissed the men's claims and asserted that all releases were obtained properly.