Mark J. Mohrmann, M.D., a New York-based orthopedic surgeon, will pay $100,000 in penalties for obtaining fake positive reviews and suppressing negative reviews for his orthopedic practice.
NY Ortho Surgeon Fined $100K for Posting Fake Reviews
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The efforts to manipulate online reviews involved Dr. Mohrmann, Highline Orthopaedics, PLLC (Dr. Mohrmann’s orthopedic practice), and Alexandra Mohrmann (Dr. Mohrmann’s wife). According to the assurance of discontinuance in the matter, the manipulation efforts were purportedly directed at a number of online platforms including the following: ZocDoc, Google, Yelp, Healthgrades, Vitals, Md.com, RateMds.com, the Better Business Bureau, and Adviise.
Since 2017, Dr. Mohrmann had allegedly been, according to the assurance of discontinuance, “suppressing authentic, negative patient reviews” while simultaneously procuring “fraudulent, positive reviews.” Dr. Mohrmann purportedly did this with the help of his wife and some members of his staff.
Dr. Mohrmann supposedly utilized a variety of tactics to remove negative reviews by patients. On Google Dr. Mohrmann would allegedly falsely flag negative reviews as inappropriate so that the reviews would be automatically removed.
Dr. Mohrmann was also supposedly able to suppress negative reviews on ZocDoc through a variety of methods. He allegedly offered one patient reimbursement of a $50 copay for the removal of a negative ZocDoc review. He also allegedly “repeatedly prevented patients from leaving a potentially bad review by falsely indicating on the platform that they had failed to appear at a scheduled appointment.”
According to the assurance of discontinuance, from July through November 2019, Dr. Mohrmann and his practice purportedly “received 1,494 bookings through the ZocDoc platform and marked 756 of those patients, more than 50%, as no-shows.”
In addition to suppressing negative reviews, Dr. Mohrmann and his wife allegedly worked together to illegally obtain fraudulent positive reviews. From 2017 through 2021, Dr. Mohrmann with the assistance of his wife, staff, paid contractors, and others, was purportedly able to procure “hundreds of fake reviews, employing several different tactics.” In addition to the $100,000 in penalties, Dr. Mohrmann and his wife are required to use their best efforts to remove the fake positive reviews.
In the Office of the New York State Attorney General press release, New York Attorney General Letitia James commented, “Many patients rely on online reviews when choosing which doctor to trust with their health, and it’s important that these reviews are authentic.”
James continued, “Dr. Mohrmann deceived patients through a secret campaign to remove negative reviews and unfairly obtain positive reviews to boost his practice. These actions are illegal and unacceptable, particularly for critical services like medical care. My office will continue to take action against those trying to mislead patients in New York.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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