Plastic Surgeon Must Pay $5 Million for Illegally Restricting Negative Reviews

[pastafan]

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Plastic Surgeon Fined $5 M for Restricting Negative Reviews

A Seattle plastic surgeon is required to pay $1.5 million to patients and $3.5 million to the state of Washington for restricting patients from posting negative reviews.

www.medscape.com

 

[Agast]

After filing the lawsuit, Ferguson's office uncovered further evidence of Sajan's efforts to influence his professional reputation through fabrication, according to the July 2 release. Allure Esthetic "rigged" "best doctor" competitions hosted by local media outlets by paying staff and contractors to vote for Sajan as "best plastic surgeon" in the region, according to the release. The staff cast as many votes as websites allowed, despite not being patients of Allure Esthetic.

next we should sue all the doctors who purchased Top Doctor plaques. Not for being misleading but for being dumb enough to get scammed

 

[pastafan]

I thought every pain doctor was the "best in the world".

 

[lobelsteve]

I thought every pain doctor was the "best in the world".

I gave the title belt to Derby over a year ago.

 

[drrosenrosen]

From the article:

"If patients posted negative reviews, the clinic, in some cases, threatened litigation, according to the lawsuit. In other cases, patients were allegedly offered money and free services in exchange for taking the reviews down. Patients who accepted cash or services were required to sign a second agreement forbidding them from posting future negative reviews and imposing a $250,000 penalty for failure to comply, according to court documents."

 

[cowboydoc]

From the article:

"If patients posted negative reviews, the clinic, in some cases, threatened litigation, according to the lawsuit. In other cases, patients were allegedly offered money and free services in exchange for taking the reviews down. Patients who accepted cash or services were required to sign a second agreement forbidding them from posting future negative reviews and imposing a $250,000 penalty for failure to comply, according to court documents."

I know a local guy that did this very thing. Atty/knee capper style.

It's odd how the state of Washington was damaged so much more than the patients. I understand it's $3.5M-(reasonable fine), but this is a laughable penalty.

 

[Ducttape]

sounds like its more of a fine to prevent recurrence than one to pay back damages to Washington state.

 

[cowboydoc]

sounds like its more of a fine to prevent recurrence than one to pay back damages to Washington state.

Exactly my point. $3.5M for this seems like an egregious penalty for a fairly petty crime.

 

[powermd]

That guy went over the line about a mile, but I liked what one commenter said about having patients waive their HIPAA rights if they post a review online.

 

[Ducttape]

i think his actions were pretty egregious.

AG Ferguson: Plastic surgeon must pay $5 million for illegally manipulating consumer ratings | Washington State

Allure Esthetic must pay restitution to 21,000 Washingtonians and seek removal of all fake reviews, among other significant reforms SEATTLE — Allure Esthetic and Dr. Javad Sajan must pay $5 million as a result of Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s consumer protection lawsuit. Allure and Sajan...

www.atg.wa.gov

he posted fake reviews.

he forced people to sign NDA to prevent them from posting, then threatened them.

he manipulated "best doctor" polling.

he posted manipulated photos for fake marketing.

he kept rebates that were intended for patients.

 

[Agast]

i think his actions were pretty egregious.

AG Ferguson: Plastic surgeon must pay $5 million for illegally manipulating consumer ratings | Washington State

Allure Esthetic must pay restitution to 21,000 Washingtonians and seek removal of all fake reviews, among other significant reforms SEATTLE — Allure Esthetic and Dr. Javad Sajan must pay $5 million as a result of Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s consumer protection lawsuit. Allure and Sajan...

www.atg.wa.gov

he posted fake reviews.

he forced people to sign NDA to prevent them from posting, then threatened them.

he manipulated "best doctor" polling.

he posted manipulated photos for fake marketing.

he kept rebates that were intended for patients.

Keeping rebates is theft. NDAs is stupid. The rest is just petty to sue someone over.

How about, every single person getting cosmetic surgery for non-reconstructive purposes is also participating in a form of fake advertising and image manipulation 😉

 

[BobBarker]

Keeping rebates is theft. NDAs is stupid. The rest is just petty to sue someone over.

How about, every single person getting cosmetic surgery for non-reconstructive purposes is also participating in a form of fake advertising and image manipulation 😉

I think that occurred in South Korea. The wife had a lot of work done and the husband figured out after the kids came and were not aesthetically pleasing and sued her.

 

[Status Sciaticus]

I think that occurred in South Korea. The wife had a lot of work done and the husband figured out after the kids came and were not aesthetically pleasing and sued her.

and won.

 

[Doctodd]

I know a local guy that did this very thing. Atty/knee capper style.

It's odd how the state of Washington was damaged so much more than the patients. I understand it's $3.5M-(reasonable fine), but this is a laughable penalty.

It’s Seattle