Opera Singing Dentist Takes No Criticism
A unique New York dentist is facing legal action for forcing her patients to sign away their right to complain about her very expensive services online. Stacy Makhnevich, also known as “the Classical Singer Dentist of New York” is being drilled with a class-action lawsuit by a former patient. After he publicly accused the crooning doc that she overcharged for her services, the dentist slapped a suit on Makhnevich, demanding $100 for every day that his negative comment was left on Yelp and DoctorBase.com.
There are so many things wrong here, I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s make a list, shall we?
- First, your dentist is an OPERA SINGER. Do you find anything odd about this? No? Okay, then move to point 2.
- Your dentist asks you to sign a document taking away your right to post a negative review about them online. I have a great dentist. He has never asked me to do this. You know why? Because he is good at what he does. Anyone who is good at what they do should not be so afraid of what their patients may say about them that they threaten legal action against Internet reviews before any treatment has even taken place.
- You are charged nearly five thousand dollars for a procedure that should have cost $200. It is a filling, not a trip to Grand Cayman.
- Your dentist calls herself “the Classical Singer Dentist of New York”. I just don’t get this. Can’t she just be a dentist?
Lee states that his posts are well within copyright law, and is asking a judge to make the agreement with Makhnevich null and void, and prohibit her from forcing anyone else to sign it.
According to Public Citizen, one of the watchdog groups that is part of Lee’s legal team, North Carolina company Medical Justice is to blame. Medical Justice’s business model includes selling form contracts to medical offices to “protect physicians from Internet defamation.”
Who do you think is going to win this one? Would you sign a contract waiving your right to complain about medical care?
