Saturday, March 07, 2009



Docs Seek to Ban Negative Comments by Patients

We read:
"The anonymous comment on the Web site RateMDs.com was unsparing: "Very unhelpful, arrogant," it said of a doctor. "Did not listen and cut me off, seemed much too happy to have power (and abuse it!) over suffering people."

Such reviews are becoming more common as consumer ratings services like Zagat's and Angie's List expand beyond restaurants and plumbers to medical care, and some doctors are fighting back.

They're asking patients to agree to what amounts to a gag order that bars them from posting negative comments online.

Source

Truth hurts?

11 comments:

Doc Mark said...

Not only would I NOT sign a gag order, if my doc asked me to sign one I'd find another doc!

What my patients thought mattered greatly to me - it was an indication of how effective I was as a practitioner.

To hide behind a gag order is the height of arrogance.

Anonymous said...

This is, unfortunately, becoming the all-to-common result of people being able to make "anonymous" postings on review web sites.

When does opinion cross the line to libel? How does a Doctor who has been unfairly libeled fight back against "DoctorHater182?" Is it even worth his time?

Conversely, "bad" doctors need to be exposed, and doctors with poor bedside manners should not be allowed to gag their patients because the doctors skipped "basic human interaction: how not to come off as an arrogant a$$" in medical school.

I agree with Doc Mark on one thing - I would look for another doctor if mine asked me to sign a "non-disclosure" or some other such agreement.

However, hiding behind anonymous postings is at least a close second to hiding behind a gag order in its level of arrogance!

Anonymous said...

At least you still have the right to find another doc...
In socialist healthcare systems you don't, your docs are appointed to you based on rota and location.
You're a white male living in this and that area therefore you have to go to doc X.
That's reality for a lot of people, and soon to be reality for all Americans as well.

Anonymous said...

I think I'd revert to the 7th grade and tell the doctor to suck my ...

Anonymous said...

Even in "socialist" health-care systems there is private treatment and private insurance if you wish to pay for it, tho' you still have to pay indirectly for the state health system via your taxes. Usually you can also request another doctor even in the state system and a particular doctor can also refuse to have you on his/her list.

Anonymous said...

Well said Stan.

This may make some laugh and some angry, but the truth often does. The current system of government in the US is a complete and total failure, and if we as a people hope to survive, it must be changed by any means!

It no longer functions.
It doesn't respond to the people.
It has no respect for the people.
It refuses to protect it's borders.
It puts foreigners before citizens.
It's based on lies and corruption.
It has exceeded it's authority.

WAKE UP AMERICA!

Anonymous said...

Assume for a moment that the doctor is great, and has one disgruntled patient who filed a lawsuit against the doctor and lost.

The patient now starts to campaign against the doctor by making anonymous postings on these types of "consumer boards." The person makes hundreds of them via proxy IP's, hurting the doctor's reputation, and their business.

What recourse does the doctor have? The websites have said that they will not release the IP's of users. While we certainly do have the right to free speech, we do not have the right to defame and slander people causing them great harm. If the sites won't help the doctors protect their name against the wackos out there, the doctors are forced to protect themselves upfront.

I don't like it, but the sites and the patients are acting irresponsibly as well as the doctors in this case.

Anonymous said...

Freedom, like pure, clean water, is essential to our way of life. But remember what too much water can do.

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