Dentist threatens to sue patient for negative online review.... wait... what?

[color=dodgerblue]I read this story on yahoo just now and just wondered what ATS would have to say.

The controversy began in 2010, when Lee went into Makhnevich’s office for a scheduled dentist’s appointment. Bleary from pain, Lee claimed he was told he had to sign several papers, including a “Mutual Agreement to Maintain Privacy,” before being treated.

The form required Lee to agree not to publish any commentary or write anything disparaging about his experience with Makhnevich. While Lee said he was hesitant to sign such a form, he claimed he was in severe pain and, therefore, gave in to the requirements.

Lee received a bill for $4,766 for the dental work, according to Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. Lee reportedly asked the dentist to send the necessary paperwork to his insurance company, but she sent it to the wrong company. When he asked for the forms to submit them himself, Makhnevich’s office apparently refused to hand them over and referred him to a third party that required five percent of the total bill for its services.

Lee then received a letter from the dentist demanding that he delete the post, warning him that he violated the agreement and threatening to sue for breach of contract.

The sites refused to take down the negative reviews, but Makhneich reportedly claimed that a copyright clause gave her ownership of the harsh words. She then sent Lee an invoice for $100 for each day the criticism remained online.

[color=dodgerblue]
Personally, I think the patient has the right to free speech. The dentist office screwed up and the guy was clearly upset enough to spout off online. Why shouldn't he be able to do that? Has this dentist encountered problems with this sort of thing before? Based on the document the patient was asked to sign, I would say its entirely possible.

What say you, ATS? Who is in the wrong here? Patient? Or dentist?

Linky

Dentists are crooks.I am going to contact the dentist association to let them know a few things about teeth.For starters, you only have one layer of enamel on your teeth.When they use that scraper thing on your teeth to clean them,that rips the enamel off.It does make for more business though,because after a few cleanings and scraping, a hole will develop in the tooth.Mr dentist, why are you insisting on repairing that back molar,so you can repair it 3 times a year to make more money,no I said pull it .

reply to post by daryllyn


Thanks for posting this. I just had a traumatic experience at the dentist on Tuesday and I believe that any patient should have the right to voice their experience so that other people can be warned and save themselves the money and aggrevation of going to this same dentist/doctor/expert/etc.

Question: What do you call a medical student who graduates at the bottom of his class?
Answer: A doctor.

No matter if they scraped by their studies, they can still open an office to practice medicine when they should only be allowed to open a butcher shop.

Surely the patient can scream 5th amendment? Sorry I'm British (With good teeth lol)

Isnt that the free speech bit for you guys?

Actually my wisdom teeth are currently crushing my others, so I may turn out a stereo typical bad tooth brit very soon

I havent been to the doctor or dentist in twenty years, its a bunch of bullcrap.If I ever have a problem, I go to earthclinic.com.It is a website where people post their home remedies for ailments.The medical industry is a big scam.For example,I had a giant kidney stone in my urinary tract.They would have let me suffer for a few months and then performed surgery on me.But after drinking a shot of olive oil and lemon juice mixed together,the stone breaks down.There is a simple cure for everything,tell them to stop the fake doctor crap .

blog.mysanantonio.com...

My son, neice and nephew were subjected to this "dentist". unnessacary work, just to bill medicaid. Smh. There's no refund in the medical/dental feilds. It's all a scam imho.

reply to post by Lucifer84


Nope, sorry. First Amendment is free speech. The Fifth is a protection against self-incrimination.

As far as the OP's question, I think the patient can sign away his right to comment, but my argument would be that it was signed under duress, therefore not binding.

reply to post by Lucifer84


Mine started doing that, since the 2 teeth right before the wisdom had cavities, I told them pull those, they wanted to pull my perfectly good wisdom teeth.. Well my wisdom teeth grew in and replaced the ones pulled

[color=mediumorchid]I have had some bad experiences with dentists as well. I finally found a good one and plan to stick with her.

I think dentists are most definitely crooked. How is it possible for the cost to be so high? It's so expensive that many just cannot afford to go which sometimes results in damage that just cannot be repaired.

I prefer my women teethless lol.

As a business owner I HATE sites like Yelp. I had a competitor get on there and just tear me up in an attempt to make us look bad. Three paragraphs of total B.S. and there is NOTHING I can do about it. He took my five star rating and turned it into four almost by himself..... I have no recourse whatsoever! I would love to sue both the site and him!

These review sites are a double edged sword.

reply to post by SkyMuerte


[color=dodgerblue]I can understand how that would be bad in a business owner sense...

But I think for medical professionals, it's a whole other story.

I stopped going to dentists after my dentist said,well you sure do have a purty mouth now.