HIPAA Journal reports:
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is suing a plastic surgery provider for falsely inflating online ratings, bribing, and threatening patients, and alleges the actions of the practice violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against the Seattle plastic surgery clinic Allure Esthetic and its owner Dr. Javad Sajan after receiving multiple complaints from patients and former employees. The complaints alleged the practice was bribing and threatening patients to prevent them from posting negative reviews on platforms such as Yelp and Google, and that patients were made to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) before receiving treatment prohibiting them from publishing online reviews that could in any way harm the practice. The practice considered any review under 4 stars to be a negative review. Attorney General Ferguson said these practices falsely inflated its online reviews.
Read more at HIPAA Journal.