I have written about the organization that calls itself "Medical Justice", twice before, how they prey on physicians' fear of online ratings and why their contracts are probably unenforceable and illegal.

They are still making news and just got some news wire coverage, not at all surprising for such a controversial topic. The real news however are the numbers on the size of their membership and the sentiment of the public's response. One of the more ironic twists is now they call themselves a Health 2.0 company!

Here is my opinion: Medical Justice is a scam profiting off doctors' fear

There, I said it. This is my opinion. I feel very strongly about it. I want to warn any physician who would listen, that the "legal packages" they could be buying from Medical Justice for good money are worthless. These would do nothing to stop a malpractice lawsuit or prevent a disgruntled patient from posting their stories anonymously. You can re-read the list of reasons again, if you like.

Folks, the data is in. The latest news story was picked up by MSNBC and they launched a little poll that leaves no doubt to what kind of damage does Medical Justice do to doctor-patient relationship. The stats require no explanation:

Would you sign a contract that would prevent you from reviewing a doctor online?

86.9%: No way! If a doctor is bad, I'm going to spread the word however I can to warn other patients (597 votes)

8.7%: Definitely. I trust my doctor completely. Besides, if a physician is truly bad and patients need to be warned, there are better, more legitimate ways to complain about the care provided (60 votes)

4.4%: I'm not sure (30 votes)

In other words, joining Medical Justice instantly makes physician a pariah in the eyes of almost 90% of general public! The information on which physicians are members is not yet public, but looks like this will not stay that way for long. RateMDs.com, the site most responsible for encouraging free-wheeling physician ratings is promising a new feature: "Wall of Shame", outing doctors who use Medical Justice agreements. I am no apologist of RateMDs, I have written about the problems with physician ratings, and think they are unfair to both doctors and patients. But I believe doctors should really consider whether appearing on the Internet's list of "the least trustworthy" physicians is good business.

Medical Justice is raking in fast cash, selling worthless indulgences 

According to the news article, around 2,000 doctors signed up over the last two years. At the annual price between $350 and $2000, the company would be making somewhere between $700K and $8M over two years of existence. That is a lot of money for selling a worthless piece of paper. The damage to reputation leading to the loss of patient business (again, almost 90% of people are repulsed by the idea) is much harder to estimate, but appears to be substantial.

Doctors should consider better alternatives to this racket

The horse is out of the barn. Anyone can post anything they want on the Internet. Using litigation and intimidation to get something taken down just adds fuel to the fire. Instead of sticking their heads in the sand, physicians should invest in their online presence that would represent them more accurately than anonymous reviews. Threatening lawsuits only reveals weakness and lack of confidence, making almost 90% of patients shun you. Avoid scams, like Medical Justice and build genuine reputation online. Mobilize patients who have good things to say.

Medical bloggers, like Dr. Rob and KevinMD demonstrate that it can be done. Physicians, you should follow their lead!