Negative Online Doctor Reviews
We always advise people to research the background of their doctors and surgeons as much as possible before any major treatment or operation. Nowadays, many people perform this research online using review sites, which allow patients to comment about their personal experiences.
But, lately, I’ve been reading about a worrying trend, diminishing this effort at increased transparency: doctors are now asking patients to sign away their right to post a negative review online.
Time magazine recently reported how Medical Justice, a company that protects doctors from medical malpractice suits, offer a customizable legal document that assigns the copyright of any online patient review to the physician. That, in turn, allows the physician to have the right to demand that any bad reviews be removed under breach of copyright.
The company claims they’re fighting “physician Internet libel and web defamation,” saying that it’s far too easy for disgruntled patients, ex-spouses or employees to post one poor comment and potentially destroy a career built up over decades.
I have a slightly different view.
First, I think it’s deeply unethical for patients to have this document slipped into other permission papers without any explanation. And second, I cannot believe this was the intent of the original copyright laws.
Philosophically, too, I have strong objections. I believe that patients have an absolute right under the First Amendment to let people know about their experiences with a physician. I also believe that reviews of any kind clearly benefit the greater good. One negative review by someone with a possible ulterior motive (let’s say a disgruntled patient, ex-spouse or angry employee) among an overwhelming number of positive reviews will not deter the discerning online reviewer.
Moreover, I worry that this misuse of the copyright law could potentially be extended to other online review sites, such as Trip Advisor or Zagat, thereby depriving us all of this highly useful information. Can you imagine complaining about a cup of coffee in Starbucks being too strong, or not tasting right, and the corporation accusing you of violating copyright laws?
In essence, this is a very bad idea. And for this company, Medical Justice, to make money off of doctors by luring them into thinking this approach is ethical and legal is, quite simply, wrong.
