visit our booking page to schedule a consultation – or use the tool shared below.
“Can Medical Justice solve my problem?” Click here to review recent consultations…
all. Here’s a sample of typical recent consultation discussions…
- Former employee stole patient list. Now a competitor…
- Patient suing doctor in small claims court…
- Just received board complaint…
- Allegations of sexual harassment by employee…
- Patient filed police complaint doctor inappropriately touched her…
- DEA showed up to my office…
- Patient “extorting” me. “Pay me or I’ll slam you online.”
- My carrier wants me to settle. My case is fully defensible…
- My patient is demanding an unwarranted refund…
- How do I safely terminate doctor-patient relationship?
- How to avoid reporting to Data Bank…
- I want my day in court. But don’t want to risk my nest egg…
- Hospital wants to fire me…
- Sham peer review inappropriately limiting privileges…
- Can I safely use stem cells in my practice?
- Patient’s results are not what was expected…
- Just received request for medical records from an attorney…
- Just received notice of intent to sue…
- Just received summons for meritless case…
- Safely responding to negative online reviews…
We challenge you to supply us with a medico-legal obstacle we haven’t seen before. Know you are in good hands. Schedule your consultation below – or click here to visit our booking page.
In his “I Have a Dream” speech, Martin Luther King said he looked forward to the day when people were judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. Amen to that.
From Martin Luther King to Yelp.
On October 8th, Yelp released “New Consumer Alert on Yelp Takes Stance Against Racism.”
You can read the alert yourself.
The alert is based on Yelp’s articulated zero-tolerance policy toward racism. Consumers want to know the types of businesses they are supporting (or presumably boycotting). Again, in Yelp’s words.
My Black Receipt on the launch of a Black-owned business attribute and joined the 15 Percent Pledge to further amplify Black-owned businesses. While searches for Black-owned businesses surged on Yelp, so did the volume of reviews warning users of racist behavior at businesses. Today, in response to this, we will now place a distinct Consumer Alert on business pages to caution people about businesses that may be associated with overtly racist actions.
If you want to be generous, Yelp designed the Public Attention Alert to keep people from posting reviews based on media reports alone. For example, if a business is accused in the news of racist behavior, a spike in negative reviews based solely on media reports follows. These are frequently from people who never patronized the business. Yelp’s terms of use mandates against second-hand information. So, superficially, this policy makes sense. It pre-empts a flood of reviews from people who know nothing personally about the business.
The analysis should not stop there. If there’s “something” to the allegation, Yelp will place a more damning label “Business Accused of Racist Behavior Alert” on the business’ profile page. In some areas, this will be the kiss of death to a business. It’s akin to burning the business down. Yelp, of course, softens its delivery by stating it will point to credible news sources. Really? Do you believe that this new system is not ripe for abuse? By disgruntled employees, competitors, or ex-spouses?
Are there times a business may take action against an employee or patron solely because of the content of their character, and that person INCIDENTALLY has a different skin color? Of course. Adjudicating the thicket of race relations can be tricky. Since Yelp does a poor job of adjudicating real versus fake reviews, should the public trust Yelp to manage a delicate dance on such a volatile issue?
In the charts below, earnings in (parentheses) represent a loss.
I’ll close with a real-world story. We work with a physician member from Nigeria. He practices internal medicine on the west coast. He received a review from an African-American patient spewing the practice was racist and wouldn’t see him because of racism. The real issue was an insurance and co-pay kerfuffle. This was a financial dispute. The internist said the review was particularly hurtful to him because he is an African-American and could not believe he was on the receiving end.
If this review had been posted in Yelp the practice would be listed as a black-owned business potentially accused of racism. Ironic, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it better if Yelp just stuck to what it does best? Using its opaque review filter to arbitrarily feature reviews it deems relevant. While Yelp routinely protests its advertising division is separate from its review division, do you believe Yelp’s review filter can be trusted? Do you believe Yelp’s foray into labeling businesses as racist will be a good thing? Let us know in the comments below.
visit our booking page to schedule a consultation – or use the tool shared below.
“Can Medical Justice solve my problem?” Click here to review recent consultations…
all. Here’s a sample of typical recent consultation discussions…
- Former employee stole patient list. Now a competitor…
- Patient suing doctor in small claims court…
- Just received board complaint…
- Allegations of sexual harassment by employee…
- Patient filed police complaint doctor inappropriately touched her…
- DEA showed up to my office…
- Patient “extorting” me. “Pay me or I’ll slam you online.”
- My carrier wants me to settle. My case is fully defensible…
- My patient is demanding an unwarranted refund…
- How do I safely terminate doctor-patient relationship?
- How to avoid reporting to Data Bank…
- I want my day in court. But don’t want to risk my nest egg…
- Hospital wants to fire me…
- Sham peer review inappropriately limiting privileges…
- Can I safely use stem cells in my practice?
- Patient’s results are not what was expected…
- Just received request for medical records from an attorney…
- Just received notice of intent to sue…
- Just received summons for meritless case…
- Safely responding to negative online reviews…
We challenge you to supply us with a medico-legal obstacle we haven’t seen before. Know you are in good hands. Schedule your consultation below – or click here to visit our booking page.
Learn how Medical Justice can protect you from medico-legal mayhem…
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Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Dr. Jeffrey Segal, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Medical Justice, is a board-certified neurosurgeon. Dr. Segal is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons; the American College of Legal Medicine; and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He is also a member of the North American Spine Society. In the process of conceiving, funding, developing, and growing Medical Justice, Dr. Segal has established himself as one of the country’s leading authorities on medical malpractice issues, counterclaims, and internet-based assaults on reputation.
Dr. Segal was a practicing neurosurgeon for approximately ten years, during which time he also played an active role as a participant on various state-sanctioned medical review panels designed to decrease the incidence of meritless medical malpractice cases.
Dr. Segal holds a M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine, where he also completed a neurosurgical residency. Dr. Segal served as a Spinal Surgery Fellow at The University of South Florida Medical School. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa as well as the AOA Medical Honor Society. Dr. Segal received his B.A. from the University of Texas and graduated with a J.D. from Concord Law School with highest honors.
In 2000, he co-founded and served as CEO of DarPharma, Inc, a biotechnology company in Chapel Hill, NC, focused on the discovery and development of first-of-class pharmaceuticals for neuropsychiatric disorders.
Dr. Segal is also a partner at Byrd Adatto, a national business and health care law firm. With decades of combined experience in serving doctors, dentists, and other providers, Byrd Adatto has a national pedigree to address most legal issues that arise in the business and practice of medicine.
I think Yelp has opened itself up for libel for stating THEIR own defamatory statements/review and I hope it goes down hard on them.
Just another business to “Get woke, go broke.”
I hope it happens to them.
Michael M. Rosenblatt, DPM
Yelp with their new policy has officially become a racist organization, that is discriminating on the basis of race. This is typical of all of the left wing lunacy, sowing seeds of division for the purposes of achieving political power. Saul Alinsky’s work Rules for Radicals is definitely in play here. The problem is that the divisions get smaller and smaller as the rules of conformity ratchet up. Finally one is left with only a leftist totalitarian elite that controls everything. That is the end result. This tide of leftism is mighty and broadly supported by all media, including social media, Hollywood, academia, and politicians of a certain political persuasion. How does one defend one’s reputation against such an onslaught? Facts don’t work since the attacks are purely emotionally driven.
The “Mafia” of on-line rating has taken another step in the wrong direction. Yelp’s “opaque review filter to arbitrarily feature reviews it deems relevant.” is crystal clear to the “dons’ that adjudicate. Thank you.
Accusation of racism is equivalent to accusation of rape or child molestation. You may be able to defend yourself eventually but you never able to wash yourself off regardless how baseless the accusation is. For accuser is not required to have any merit to the acquisition and accuser is not responsible for any repercussions of their actions. Unfortunately, I was on the receiving end of it verbally because my office dared to request a patient to pay their co-payment. At that point I was accused of Zionism.
Hopefully, Yelp does not have section 230 protection and will get sued multiple times for this unjust and wicked policy.