IMHO #2

According to the Associated Press article, "Canadian Woman loses benefits over Facebook photo", a woman did in fact lose her work benefits because of Facebook photos. The woman, Nathalie Blanchard, had been on leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Quebec, for the last year. She was diagnosed with depression, and was receiving monthly benefits from the insurance company Manulife. All of a sudden, in the fall, her benefits dried up for no apparent reason. When Blanchard called the insurance agent, she was told that there was several pictures proving that she was no longer depressed.

According to Blanchard, her doctor told her it would be beneficial to her condition to try and have fun, and hang out with friends in order to try and forget her problems. The pictures in question, depict Blanchard at a her birthday party at Chippendales, and another at a holiday.

The question is weather the insurance company acted hastily, and in who's interest. In my opinion, Manulife was obviously looking out for their own best interest, and had been investigating Blanchard, or else these photos would not have been found. According to the dictionaries definition of clinical depression, "...the reaction to unfortunate life circumstances is more intense or prolonged than would generally be expected". It seems that a few pictures could not have accurately portrayed Nathalie Blanchard's depression over the last year, and definitely couldn't diagnose her as being cured. The fact that Manulife stopped her benefits because of the pictures on a social networking site is troubling. Of course the Manulife is going to say that that isn't the case, but there is no way it was a coincidence, plus the agent told her that was the reason. There definitely should have been some sort of second opinion by a doctor, done by the insurance, or some sort of communication with Blanchard at least. Hopefully the truth comes out, and Blanchard gets the help she needs.

Story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091122/ap_on_re_ca/cn_canada_facebook_insurance