A doctor is suing one of his Manhattan patients for $1 million in damages after she posted a negative Yelp review online that went beyond just giving him the one-star treatment, CBS News reported.
Michelle Levine said she visited gynecologist Dr. Joon Song in August for an annual exam and was later billed for an ultrasound and a new patient visit – not just for her annual exam that was meant to be free.
After attempts to take it up with the doctor's office proved fruitless, Levine did what many people do these days – she took to the internet to write a bad review about her experience.
Posting to sites including Yelp, Zocdoc and Healthgrades, Levine accused Song of conducting "very poor and crooked business practice."
She also logged onto the doctor's Facebook page and gave him a one-star rating.
"He billed my insurance company $1,304.32 for the new-patient visit and ultrasound, and I got a bill for $427 that wasn’t covered," Levine told the New York Post, noting how the exam should have been for free.
"I gave an honest review of my experience to warn others, and he is trying to silence me. It’s a nightmare," Levine said.
Two weeks after posting her review, Levine received a letter from the doctor's lawyers informing her that she was being sued, citing online harassment and false postings as the bases of the lawsuit.
"No reasonable person would believe that the statements made therein were opinion," court documents said, according to the Post.
Levine said she has already had to fork out close to $20,000 to fight the suit and has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the legal fees.
"Dr. Joon Song will not settle," she wrote on the fundraising page. "I am forced to go through this to the end. He insists that I owe him 1 million dollars for writing a review based on my experience. I have dealt with this in silence. Going public is not ideal for me, but I feel it is my only choice."
Of course, it’s not the first time someone has been sued for a review posted online.
In a similar case, in 2013 a San Francisco law firm sued a former client over negative comments posted on Yelp.
The firm’s owner, Dawn Hassell, accused former client Ava Bird of posting false claims on their Yelp page, giving the firm a one-star rating.
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