Amin Sabet
Administrator
I Googled myself not long ago and found that the third result for my name was a site where anyone can review doctors. To my shock/horror/embarrassment, there was a 1 out of 5 star rating next to my name in that Google preview. I clicked on the link and found that someone had left a really awful review.
It was left by someone with a name I had never seen, and the awful comment was totally nonspecific, so I don't even know if it was left by someone who had ever seen me as a patient or, for that matter, intended as a comment about me. The site where the review was left does not require any verification, so anyone can post whatever they like about any doctor.
As far as I was concerned, the comment made was libel (it was false, stated as fact, and potentially damaging), so I contacted the site (Vitals.com) and asked them to delete it. They refused. I thought about taking legal action to protect my name, but after giving it some thought, I don't have the time or money to go that route.
In thinking about what I could do about this issue, though, my brother had a good suggestion:
Anyway, so that is why I've changed my user name on this site and will be doing so on my other web content. I'm going public on the web.
It was left by someone with a name I had never seen, and the awful comment was totally nonspecific, so I don't even know if it was left by someone who had ever seen me as a patient or, for that matter, intended as a comment about me. The site where the review was left does not require any verification, so anyone can post whatever they like about any doctor.
As far as I was concerned, the comment made was libel (it was false, stated as fact, and potentially damaging), so I contacted the site (Vitals.com) and asked them to delete it. They refused. I thought about taking legal action to protect my name, but after giving it some thought, I don't have the time or money to go that route.
In thinking about what I could do about this issue, though, my brother had a good suggestion:
I've decided to go that route. The most effective way to fight the bad stuff may well be to let the good stuff drown it out. I'm also thinking of letting more of my patients know about these doctor review sites. If I'm going to be rated/reviewed, I'd prefer that it comes from actual patients of mine, not some anonymous mean person who may never have even seen me as a patient.You should blog under your real name to dominate google search results pages.
Family, tech, health tips. Whatever.
Anyway, so that is why I've changed my user name on this site and will be doing so on my other web content. I'm going public on the web.