Patients are blackmailing doctors with threats of negative online reviews and forcing medicos to fight back with police complaints.
Published Nov 14, 2025 | 6:03 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 14, 2025 | 6:03 PM
Discussion on 'Social Media and Skin & Hair Health' at the second edition of South First's Dakshin Health Summit
Synopsis: Dermatologists at Dakshin Health Summit spoke about the rising trend of extortion: influencer patients threaten negative reviews for free treatments, discounts, or priority slots. Doctors face coordinated attacks, abuse; some file police complaints. Doctors urge for calm replies, trust word-of-mouth, report fake reviews to Google. They say, ethical practice triumphs over online blackmail.
Doctors are facing a new form of extortion: patients with large social media followings threatening negative reviews to extract free treatments, discounts, or preferential scheduling—a growing phenomenon that’s forcing medical practitioners to file police complaints and seek legal recourse.
At the second edition of South First’s Dakshin Health Summit, during a panel discussion on ‘Social Media and Skin & Hair Health’ held at the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG), Gachibowli, on Sunday, multiple practitioners shared experiences of being blackmailed through review threats, whilst emphasising that ethical practice ultimately prevails over manufactured online ratings.
Dr K Sai Sandeepthi, dermatologist at Eudermiz Skin, Hair and Laser Clinic, Hyderabad, who moderated the discussion, shared a recent incident: “I recently had a patient who was asking for an extra discount in the pharmacy. When our pharmacist refused, the patient said he would post a negative review on Google. People are using this to blackmail for everything and anything these days.”
Dr Jenny Mathew, dermatologist at Lisa Skin Clinic, Kozhikode, who was a panelist in another session, described the particular challenge posed by patients with significant online followings: “What about bullying? You get social media bullying from patients too. Sometimes they start threatening you with bad reviews. The same thing happened to me. I had an incident like that—especially if they are very popular and have many followers, they can start threatening you. You give one treatment, and if it doesn’t work the way they want, they demand free treatments or refunds. They can say anything.”
She explained the escalation: “They start posting so many negative reviews, and it goes on. Finally, I had to file a police complaint. This can happen because if the patient is popular, they can use their reach to threaten doctors.”
Dr Mathew revealed another tactic: revenge through manufactured consensus.
“I had one patient who waited for more than an hour because I was late. That person then got four others to post negative reviews—just because I couldn’t meet them on time.”
Dr Sivaranjani Santosh, senior paediatrician, first aid trainer, and social activist from Hyderabad, shared her own experience with patient aggression: “My appointment system is clear—if you’re late, you’ll have to wait or reschedule. One lady started using foul language against my assistant when he told her this. She insisted on talking to me, so I repeated the same thing. Then, with the speakerphone on, she shouted the B-word and said she would post a negative review about me.”
Dr Sivaranjani’s response revealed her philosophical approach to such threats: “I told her, ‘It’s okay, no problem.’ I honestly don’t care. My practice is built on word of mouth, not social media. It may not be the same for everyone, but trust me—if we are honest, genuine, and do the right thing, our patients will speak for us. We don’t have to worry about reviews at all. Just give a calm, factual reply if needed, and move on. Word of mouth is still the strongest thing, even in this digital era.”
Dr Rajetha Damisetty, Senior dermatologist, founder–director of Mohana Skin, Hair & Aesthetic Clinic, and Organising Chairperson of Dakshin Health Summit, outlined available legal protections: “If it’s a malicious or fake review, you can complain. We once had a first-time patient who threatened my assistant with a fake review just because she didn’t get an appointment. She hadn’t even visited the clinic—how can she post a review? You can report such cases to Google.”
Dr Damisetty shared a striking example of platform intervention: “When the social media issue happened with me in May, there were hundreds of reviews posted on my clinic page—both negative and positive. One of my dermatologist friends saw that and encouraged others to post positive ones. Eventually, Google realised something was off and suspended reviews on my page. Surprisingly, during that whole episode, my clinic’s rating actually went up,” she said, smiling.
(Edited by Amit Vasudev)
