Defamation and online reviews: How can they impact your business as a cosmetic practitioner?

Reputation is a fragile thing. It can take years to build up one’s reputation and only one false and negative comment that can have devastating consequences on one’s personal and professional reputation. The fragility of reputation, coupled with the fact that cosmetic practitioners hold a unique position of trust in modern day society, creates an inherent reputational risk within the cosmetic industry. Indeed, finding the right cosmetic doctor or surgeon is not like choosing a restaurant for dinner; prospective patients inevitably spend an immense amount of time and energy researching the perfect practitioner which is why the online and offline reputation of cosmetic doctors and surgeons is so critical.   

With the rapid rise and prominence of social media, and in an era of misinformation and click-bait, it is becoming increasingly difficult for cosmetic doctors and surgeons to manage and protect their digital footprint and online reputation. Patients, competitors, even disgruntled ex-employees now have a myriad of options at their fingertips to launch anonymous campaigns by posting false, damaging and defamatory content to a limitless audience. Practitioners can now be defamed on multiple forms of social media, including Instagram, Facebook, X (formally known as Twitter), TikTok, as well as on their Google business listing via reviews and on doctor review sites such as RateMD’s, RealSelf and Doctify. This is commonly conducted using multiple fake account, aliases or sock puppets. Other tactics we commonly see include the sending of defamatory emails or letters to patients, business partners or even regulators, from anonymous email accounts.

The potential reach of such content is greater than ever before and practitioners who are defamed online are often left with no other option but to commence proceedings for libel, or applying to the Court for disclosure or discovery from internet intermediaries when they are defamed by people hiding behind fake accounts.

In 2021, a well-respected plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Marbella, Dr Alexander Aslani sued a former patient and social-media influencer, Paulina Sobierajska, in the High Court, for publishing several false and defamatory publications about him on Instagram and RealSelf. At the time, Sobierajska made serious allegations that Dr Aslani carried out grossly negligent treatment which other surgeons had refused to remedy and that he would likely seriously injure or kill his patients in the future. The allegations were published to Sobjerajska’s 52,000 followers, as well as on Realself, which as at 2017 had a user count of 94 million people from 100 different countries. After a lengthy and costly process, the Court found that the publications had a significant impact upon Dr Aslani’s personal and professional life and reputation and ordered Sobierajka to pay £40,000 in damages and legal costs.

The issue however is sometimes more complex than an aggrieved patient posting false and defamatory material on review sites and social media. We have experience of cases where dissatisfied patients blackmail doctors with the threat of either making a complaint to a regulatory body or posting a negative review on social media or a review site unless fees are refunded, waived or reduced or “compensation” is paid. If attempts to resolve the issue directly with the patient fail and the patient makes good on their threats, the difficult question for practitioners is whether or not to take legal action against the dissatisfied patient. Practitioners often feel that they are unable to take drastic legal steps against patients for fear of being seen to be abusing their professional position of power to prevent patients from expressing their point of view. However, a distinction needs to be made between allowing a patient to freely express their views versus blackmailing doctors by threatening to publish false and defamatory material.

Similarly, we have experience of disgruntled former employees attempting to hold their former employer to ransom to leverage a larger settlement / pay-off, using the threat of contacting patients or business partners with spurious allegations. There are legal options available in such circumstances, but of course speed is of the essence.

In 2020, the British Association of Aesthetic Surgeons distributed an online survey to 212 of its members. Of the full membership, 46% of practitioners completed the survey. A total of 51% of the members surveyed had first-hand experience of denigration of their reputation by patients. Only 22% of respondents had not been subject to defamation and over half had been subject to defamation on 2 or more occasions. 29% reported denigration by another surgeon and 78% of members reported that at least on 1 occasion they have been pressured or intimidated to reduce or refund fees by a patient or a private hospital.

The reality is this; reputation is fragile thing. It can take years of hard work and dedication to build up your reputation, and only one negative comment that can completely ruin it. The risks practitioners face is sure to only increase as the ways in which people can spread falsehoods and misinformation using technology and social media continues to develop. Ultimately, in a world of instant media it is absolutely critical for practitioners to act fast when they receive any kind of threat, or actual harm, to their or their clinic’s reputation.