Singapore Medical Council may take legal action against DoctorxDentist

THE Singapore Medical Council (SMC) may take legal action against online platform DoctorxDentist, after the startup failed to meet demands made by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and SMC.

The SMC had asked DoctorxDentist, a medical review and consumer education website, to remove all listings of registered medical practitioners that it had taken from the SMC's website without permission by Friday.

As at Saturday, no attempts have been made by the company to do so, MOH said in a circular as seen by The Business Times. The circular said SMC is "presently exploring avenues of legal recourse" against the platform.

DoctorxDentist on Sunday said that it will now remove all medical practitioners who do not wish to be listed, following MOH's circular disseminated on Saturday night.

Under the SMC website's terms of use, parties must get written permission from the SMC to reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit or otherwise distribute materials found on SMC's site.

In a meeting with DoctorxDentist on Nov 13, MOH and SMC demanded that the startup publish an erratum on its website by Nov 17 to clarify a statement it made on Nov 4.

This statement by DoctorxDentist gave the impression that MOH had advised the platform to list all medical and dental practitioners on their website, when the ministry had in fact not endorsed the website in any way.

With no attempts made by the company to issue a correction, MOH and SMC have posted an erratum on their respective websites.

While DoctorxDentist said that it will now remove all medical practitioners who do not wish to be listed, those who still wish to be on the platform can request for the site to disable the patient review function on their profile.

They can also ask for their contact information to be published on the website so patients can reach out directly to them.

The startup's woes began early this month when the Singapore Medical Association (SMA) stepped in after its members complained that DoctorxDentist refused to remove their profiles from the site.

Several doctors voiced concerns about the lack of transparency on the platform, as well as an appointment booking function that wrongly implied the doctors had engaged the platform's service.

SMA on Saturday published a list of more than 1,100 doctors who do not wish to be associated with the platform.

This list will be updated twice a week, and remain publicly accessible until DoctorxDentist removes all the profiles of and information linked to the doctors on the list, said SMA.

According to checks by BT on Sunday, profiles of some doctors on this list still remain on the platform. Medical practitioners can email DoctorxDentist at hello@dxd.com.sg or info@dxd.com.sg to remove their profiles, said MOH.

DoctorxDentist earns revenue from creating healthcare-related content with medical practitioners and brands, which it publishes on its website.

The content is meant to be optimised for search engines, so consumers can find it easily on Google. The startup's subscription plans for such search optimisation services range from S$3,000 to S$5,500 per month, with users locked in for at least six months, sources told BT.

MOH, SMC and the Singapore Dental Council (SDC) reminded all medical and dental practitioners who are paying a fee to DoctorxDentist that all advertisements relating to healthcare services or professionals must comply with the Private Hospitals & Medical Clinics (PHMC) (Advertisement) Regulations. They must also follow the relevant ethical codes of SMC and SDC.

"We will not hesitate to take enforcement and disciplinary actions respectively in cases of non-compliance. Any PHMC licensee who contravenes the Advertisement Regulations may be liable on conviction to a fine of not exceeding S$2000 per breach," MOH said.

The SMC ethical code states that medical practitioners should not advertise in a way that is comparative, unduly persuasive and sensational, among other factors.

Testimonials too, are subjective and must not be used in advertising or any media where doctors have control over the content, according to the SMC ethical code. Doctors must not ask or induce anyone to write positive testimonials about them in any media.

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