Medfluencers: When Doctors TikTok

When Dr. Chloe Nazra Lee, MD, MPH, was a medical student, she witnessed some of her fellow students making poor choices in pursuit of fame, status, and influence. Most of those choices involved social media, with people who hadn’t even completed their coursework posting medical opinions and hot takes as though they were already experts in their fields.

The problem wasn’t just that some of these students became so caught up in the glamour and excitement of their new roles as medfluencers (influencers, but for medical information) that they barely passed their courses and performed badly on exams. It’s that, according to Dr. Lee, they often posted misinformation — and got away with it. In the maelstrom of social media, facts and understanding are secondary to a sensational opinion and the dopamine hit of thousands of likes.

When med students become practicing medical professionals, however, the consequences for ill-conceived social media posts can be very serious. Doctors are granted a license to practice by their state’s licensing board on the basis of their competence and integrity; demonstrating a failure in either can result in a suspension of that license, even revocation. The Professional License Defense Team at the LLF National Law Firm can help. Call us at 888-535-3686 or send us a message online and tell us about your case.

Do No Harm, Offline or On

Licensed medical doctors and other healthcare professionals should always be mindful that, for a licensing board reviewing their conduct, public statements count. This is because doctors and other medical professionals are held to a high ethical standard: the injunction to “do no harm” includes both the physician’s treatment of individual patients and the public at large.

Doctors, nurses, and other licensed healthcare professionals can run afoul of their board’s ethical standards requirements in several important ways. For instance, they might:

• Violate HIPAA rules by providing enough information about a particular case to identify the patient, even if they have enough sense not to name them outright. This information doesn’t have to be verbal, either: posting a video of a procedure that includes the patient’s face or a unique tattoo or other feature, for instance, can be enough.
• Disseminate dangerous misinformation, jeopardizing public safety. Dr. Chen points to the growing measles outbreak in the U.S. stemming from a deluge of misinformation about vaccines, including from medical professionals who should know better.
• Offer up medical advice that endangers the individuals they’re engaging with on social media. Drinking bleach is not a cure for Covid, and copper bracelets don’t reduce inflammation. Any medical professional who responds to queries about pain or disease with quack advice rather than a clear instruction to make a doctor’s appointment is putting that individual in harm’s way.

This is just a sampling of the myriad ways medical professionals can risk their license in the pursuit of medfluencer status. It doesn’t mean doctors and others should never post; with their expertise and commitment to patient health, they can absolutely be a force for the public good in an increasingly confused world. Know what your board expects of you, check your facts, respect your patients’ privacy, and don’t presume to treat someone who DMs you on TikTok or Insta.

When Your Licensing Board Has Questions

If something you’ve posted has caught your licensing board’s eye, you’ll want to get your ducks in a row quickly. The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team, which assists medical professionals nationwide, can help. Call us at 888-535-3686 or send us a message online. We’ll make sure the board understands your side of the issue and respects your due process rights.