RateMDs co-founder John
Swapceinski says the lawsuit doesn't worry him
Photo credit: Don Feria
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"This doctor prescribed me an
antibiotic that causes birth defects after I clearly
told him I was 4 months pregnant!! Apparently he made
a 'mistake.'" — Posted on RateMDs.com on October
1, 2007
"I found Dr Foda to ignore problems
until drastic measures were required. Had to call numerous
times to get an appointment. Felt that Dr Foda did not
do required follow up in a timely manner. Did not inform
patients of what he did in the OR [such as] remove tumours.
Would have died if not for another [doctor]." —
Posted on RateMDs.com on May 26, 2007
The doctor in both these comments,
published on the popular US-based doctor rating website
RateMDs, is Edmonton-area urologist Mohamed Foda (overall
rating: 3.2 out of five). On March 31, he decided to
do something about the comments, which he claims are
"malicious" fakes designed to ruin him: he filed a massive
lawsuit against the anonymous authors of the comments,
for a total of $12 million in damages, reported the
Edmonton Sun recently.
TRUE
OR FALSE
John Swapceinski, the co-founder and administrator of
RateMDs, isn't worried that Dr Foda's claim will grow
into anything more than a threat. And he typically ignores
threats. "We get threats pretty much every week, and
we get letters from lawyers about once a month —
to cease and desist, to remove a client's name —
but we don't comply." Surprisingly, RateMDs has never
been sued before, though Mr Swapceinski says he will
cooperate with the court if he's subpoenaed to release
identifying information about Dr Foda's anonymous patients.
In fact, says Mr Swapceinski, the
comments about Dr Foda may be entirely true. "They're
only libellous if they're not true and I don't know
if they're true or not. They don't seem to me to be
outrageous," he says. "If we see something that is outrageous,
that can't be possibly true, then we take it down. Otherwise,
I would hate to have a doctor who's doing a lot of bad
things and I start taking down ratings because I don't
think they're true but they are. When you look at the
newspaper, there are articles about doctors engaging
in completely outrageous behaviour that couldn't be
true, but it is."
As Mr Swapceinski sees it, the
website provides a public service, allowing people to
share information. He's quick to bring up the US Constitution's
First Amendment right to freedom of speech. But he admits
that a lie is a lie. "I can understand it," he says
of Dr Foda's lawsuit. "If the comments aren't true he
should file suit."
NET
LOSSES
If the price tag Dr Foda's placed on his dignity strikes
you as high, that's because it is. So too, however,
is the price of internet libel. "Foda claims the defamatory
comments have caused irreparable harm to his reputation
and medical practice and caused him emotional distress
and anxiety," the Sun wrote. (Dr Foda did not return
multiple requests for comment from NRM.)
The huge $12 million sum is a reflection
of the importance that anonymous internet ratings have
acquired in 21st century Canada.
That Dr Foda's claim is without
precedent only serves to highlight most physicians'
ignorance — willful or otherwise — of the
degree to which the internet has changed how the public
perceives physicians.
Over 40,000 Canadian physicians
— fully two-thirds of the total figure — are
now rated.
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