In Bashkiria, a court ordered a patient to pay compensation to a doctor for a complaint on a social network

A surgeon at the Chishminsky Central District Hospital in Bashkiria won a lawsuit against his patient, who complained about him in the local community “Overheard” on the social network “VKontakte,” Vesti reports . FM". The court ruled that the information published by the woman was false.

In July 2016, a resident of the Bashkir village of Chishmy went to the hospital after a road accident - the woman needed medical attention due to a wound on her leg. The surgeon examined the patient and prescribed her treatment. The woman was dissatisfied with the doctor’s appointment and complained about him in the “Overheard Chishma” community on VKontakte. She stated that her wound was not stitched up, which is why it festered, and also thanked another doctor who pointed out to her her colleague’s mistake.

Initially, the complaint was published anonymously, but the author wrote comments from her account, and the doctor remembered his patient. The surgeon went to court, providing a screenshot of a post on a social network certified by a notary.

The defense lawyer also proved that the information in the complaint was unreliable: the medical commission’s report confirmed that the surgeon provided assistance properly, and the patient’s wound could not be sutured due to pus.

Despite the fact that the message disappeared from the group and its author deleted the page, the doctor refused to withdraw the claim. According to him, this message was seen by thousands of people, and for an urban village this is a serious blow to its reputation.

The surgeon demanded compensation from the patient for moral damages in the amount of 50 thousand rubles. The Chishminsky District Court found the woman guilty, but reduced the amount of compensation to five thousand rubles. The patient will also have to pay 15 thousand rubles for the doctor’s legal costs and write a refutation post in “Overheard”.

In September, an otolaryngologist at a city hospital in Khabarovsk also went to court to protect her business reputation: she proved that she could not admit a girl who had a battery stuck in her nose because her mother’s screams caused her to have a hypertensive crisis and she felt ill.