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Patients Take Their Complaints against Medical Professionals Online
Recent legal wrangling in the United States has brought an important issue regarding patients’ freedom of speech to the forefront. Patients are now able to access websites that provide them with a virtual forum to criticize or commend on the performance of their medical practitioners. This has created uproar among these professionals whose reputations could be destroyed by one disgruntled patient.
One particular incident involved an ophthalmologist in Texas who found that a dissatisfied patient had posted complaints about him on the Internet. The doctor launched an aggressive response, suing for, inter alia, libel, and a state judge ordered the material removed from the site. On the other hand, two dentists who sued a patient in Florida that had created a website called “dentalfraudinflorida.com”, withdrew their complaint. The attorney for the websites’ creator relied on the patient’s first amendment right to free speech, and said the dentists withdrew their suit because it was “frivolous”.
Alternate forums exist for those who wish to submit anonymous reviews of doctors, but experts disagree as to the appropriate vetting process for such reviews. One site, “Dr.Oogle” features anonymous reviews about dentists. When the site receives complaints or legal threats from these dentists, the site removes that dentist’s information. Another alternative, employed by “RateMDs.com”, allows doctors to place rebuttals on the website to the reviews they feel are unfair.
RateMDs.com has expanded its operations to include Canadian doctors.
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