How to Protect Your Dental Business from Defamation Lawsuits
As a dentist, your professional reputation is one of your most valuable assets. Patients trust you with their oral health based on your experience and integrity. A false accusation or negative review can seriously damage that hard-earned reputation and harm your practice. In today’s digital age, where online reviews and social media comments can spread rapidly, dentists are increasingly at risk for defamation lawsuits.
Consult a dental lawyer immediately if someone accuses you of professional misconduct or negligence. An experienced dental lawyer can clarify your legal rights and options for fighting false claims and protecting your good name.
What is Defamation?
Defamation is a false statement presented as a fact that injures a person’s reputation. The two main types of defamation are libel (written statements) and slander (spoken statements). To prove defamation in a lawsuit, a plaintiff generally must show that:
- The statement was published or communicated to a third party
- The statement was false
- The statement caused damage to the person’s reputation
- The person making the statement acted negligently or with malice
For dentists, defamation claims often arise from dissatisfied patients or disgruntled former employees. With the prevalence of online review sites like Yelp and Google, it’s easier than ever for patients to publicly air their grievances about a dental practice. While patients have a right to share their honest opinions and experiences, they cross the line into defamation when they make provably false statements that damage the dentist’s reputation.
Examples of defamatory statements in a dental context can include:
- Falsely accusing the dentist of performing unnecessary procedures
- Claiming the dentist was drunk or high while treating patients
- Calling the dentist a “quack” or “fraud” without any factual basis
- Alleging the dentist sexually harassed or assaulted patients
- Asserting the dentist uses unsanitary or unsafe practices
Of course, a patient may have valid complaints about their experience with a dental practice. Expressing dissatisfaction with the treatment results, bedside manner, wait times, or billing practices is not likely to be considered defamation if the statements are truthful and based on opinion rather than stated as objective facts. A dental attorney can evaluate whether a particular statement or review meets the legal definition of defamation.
Defamation Can Devastate a Dental Practice
In the competitive world of dentistry, even a single defamatory statement can cause harm to a dental practice. Hundreds of thousands can see an inflammatory social media post or scathing online review of potential patients with just a few clicks.
The fallout for a practice can include:
- Lost revenue from patients switching to other providers
- Difficulty attracting new patients and growing the practice
- Higher patient acquisition costs to rehabilitate the practice’s reputation
- Diminished job satisfaction and low morale for the dentist and staff
- Impaired relationships with referral sources, suppliers, and insurers
Considering all these impacts, it’s unsurprising that defamation is a top concern for many dentists. Being the target of a defamatory statement can feel very personal and threatening to a dentist who has worked tirelessly to build a thriving practice and deliver high-quality patient care.
Dentists have a few options for responding when an allegedly defamatory statement comes to their attention. Some may choose to ignore it and hope the situation blows over. However, letting the false information circulate unchallenged allows it to inflict more damage. Other dentists want to respond publicly and correct the record. But getting into a war of words can backfire by drawing more attention to the accusations. Anything you say to defend yourself can be evidence against you in litigation.
The best action is to contact a dental lawyer as soon as possible. The lawyer can investigate the source and scope of the defamatory statement and advise you on the appropriate next steps to mitigate the reputational harm.
What Should You Do If You Receive a Negative Online Review?
Negative online reviews can be stressful for any dentist. But avoid the temptation to fire off an angry response or threaten the reviewer with legal action. A defensive or confrontational reply will only escalate the situation and make you look unprofessional. Instead, take a deep breath and follow these steps:
- Assess the situation objectively: Try to view the review from the perspective of an impartial reader. Is it a detailed factual report or more of a vague rant? Do the complaints seem like isolated issues or a pattern of problems in your practice? Understanding how the review comes across can guide your response strategy.
- Determine if it’s worth responding: If the review seems like a good-faith critique, acknowledge it and commit to improvements. But if it’s a personal attack, argues with other commenters, or contains outrageous allegations, people may see it as less credible and unworthy of a public response.
- Consult with a dental attorney: A lawyer can review the online statements and identify any defamatory content. If there appear to be grounds for a defamation claim, a lawyer can advise you on your options and recommend the best action to address the false review.
- Gather evidence to refute false claims: To the extent you can, document the facts that disprove the review’s allegations. Retain records of the patient’s treatment and interactions with your practice. If a non-patient or competitor posted the review, try to establish proof of their identity and malicious motives. This evidence can support a defamation case.
- Consider reaching out to the patient directly: If the negative review is from a known patient, you may want to contact them to calmly discuss their concerns and see if you can resolve the matter privately. They may be willing to update or remove the review. Be careful not to violate any patient privacy laws in your communications.
- Flag the review for removal: Most online review platforms have a process for reporting reviews that violate their content guidelines, such as reviews that contain false information, hate speech, or promotional material. If the review is truly egregious, flag it and make a case for removal. However, many platforms refuse to referee factual disputes between reviewers and businesses.
- Pursue legal action as a last resort: Filing a defamation lawsuit over an online review should not be done lightly. Litigation can be expensive, time-consuming, and emotionally draining. It can also draw more attention to the harmful allegations. However, if you’ve exhausted all other remedies and the defamatory review is causing harm to your dental practice, pursuing a lawsuit for the damages with the assistance of a dental lawyer may be your best option for achieving a fair outcome and deterring future defamers.
Don’t hesitate to Contact a Dental Lawyer.
If you believe your dental practice has been the target of false and damaging statements, don’t hesitate to contact a dental lawyer to discuss your legal options. A skilled dental attorney can clarify your rights, gather evidence to combat the defamation, and pursue legal action to defend your good name, if necessary. In many cases, simply having a dental lawyer send a letter to the defamer can be enough to compel them to retract or remove their statement.
You’ve worked too hard building your dental practice to let others harm your reputation. The sooner you stand up to defamation with the help of a dental lawyer, the better your chances of successfully refuting the allegations and mitigating the fallout. Schedule a consultation with a respected dental lawyer in your area today to get started on your defamation defense strategy.