Seattle Plastic Surgeon Ordered to Pay $5 Million for Illegally Restricting Negative Reviews

Jul 17, 2024, 02:01 PM

A Seattle plastic surgeon has been ordered to pay a total of $5 million to resolve allegations of pressuring patients to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and threatening them with legal and financial penalties if they attempted to write negative reviews on platforms such as Google, Yelp, and WebMD. The settlement includes $3.5 million to Washington State and $1.5 million to 21,000 patients. These actions were deemed illegal as they restricted patients' rights to free speech.