Medical Justice, a physician-led company designed to protect physicians' reputations, is ending a set of contracts that gave physicians some control over patients' online comments, according to an American Medical News report.
The most recent version of the contract, which physicians would give patients to sign, gave physicians copyright permission to remove patients' comments if they violated online review sites' rules. Harley Geiger, an attorney for the Center for Democracy & Technology, said the contracts are unfair and harm consumers and rating sites.
Medical Justice retired its "vaccine against libel" contracts after the Center for Democracy & Technology asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Medical Justice on Nov. 29, claiming its contracts abused copyright terms and were unfair and deceptive. The same day, a patient filed a lawsuit against dentist Stacy Makhnevich, DDS, for using one of the contracts.
Robert Allen Lee is suing Dr. Makhnevich for allegedly using a Medical Justice contract to stop him from posting comments about her practice. Mr. Lee claims Dr. Makhnevich sent him $100 invoices for each day his comments were online and threatened to sue him for copyright infringement.
HIMSS Launches eNurse Mentoring Program
Data Breach Hits Loma Linda University Medical Center, More Than 1,300 Patients
The most recent version of the contract, which physicians would give patients to sign, gave physicians copyright permission to remove patients' comments if they violated online review sites' rules. Harley Geiger, an attorney for the Center for Democracy & Technology, said the contracts are unfair and harm consumers and rating sites.
Medical Justice retired its "vaccine against libel" contracts after the Center for Democracy & Technology asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Medical Justice on Nov. 29, claiming its contracts abused copyright terms and were unfair and deceptive. The same day, a patient filed a lawsuit against dentist Stacy Makhnevich, DDS, for using one of the contracts.
Robert Allen Lee is suing Dr. Makhnevich for allegedly using a Medical Justice contract to stop him from posting comments about her practice. Mr. Lee claims Dr. Makhnevich sent him $100 invoices for each day his comments were online and threatened to sue him for copyright infringement.
Related Articles on Health IT:
EMR Implementation: An Opportunity To Strengthen Physician RelationshipsHIMSS Launches eNurse Mentoring Program
Data Breach Hits Loma Linda University Medical Center, More Than 1,300 Patients