Doctolib suspends seventeen practitioner profiles following criticism accusing it of promoting alternative medicine

Doctolib suspends seventeen practitioner profiles following criticism accusing it of promoting alternative medicine

[ad_1]

The start-up the best valued in France defends. In a series of posts on its Twitter account, Doctolib has responded over the past two days to critics accusing it of promoting alternative medicine on its medical appointment booking platform. On Monday, the company also announced that it had suspended seventeen profiles of practitioners implicated and engaged “background work” with the site’s medical committee, the orders and health professionals.

“Measures will be taken soon. Several options are on the table, we are not ruling anything out”announced the platform to Agence France-Presse, after declaring during the day on its Twitter account the immediate suspension of certain profiles pointed out, time “to carry out checks. »

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Alternative medicine in search of legitimacy

Pointed naturopathy

On social networks, health professionals and patients have criticized the platform for several days for allowing its users to make appointments with practitioners claiming to be naturopaths and some of whom have dangerous practices, close to quackery. Naturopathy is a practice aimed at strengthening the body’s defenses by means considered natural and biological”, According to the World Health Organization (WHO), but it is not recognized in France and is sometimes considered to be linked to abuses pointed out by the Miviludesthe government mission in the fight against sectarian aberrations.

On Saturday, the lecturer and member of the observatory of conspiracy, Tristan Mendès France, had declared on this social network to have found a practitioner promoting on Doctolib of “urinotherapy”a practice of drinking some of one’s urine for the purpose of healing or maintaining one’s health.

“The presence of these individuals on a linking service between patients and health professionals gives them totally unjustified credit and guarantee. “, was indignant L’Extracteur, an account appearing on Twitter as a collective wishing to inform “on the dangers of certain pseudo-alternatives in health and diet”.

Among the profiles in question, the criticisms of the Doctolib platform have notably targeted naturopaths claiming to be Thierry Casasnovas and Irène Grosjean, two influential personalities in the naturopathic community but with discredited positions in the world of health.

Verifications and “substantive work” to come

“We would like to point out that it is impossible for a patient to take a [rendez-vous] on Doctolib with a practitioner not referenced by the Ministry of Health, without having expressly sought to do so”had first let Doctolib know on Sunday, specifying that it was going to carry out checks concerning the practitioners “whose actions would be dangerous or punishable by law” and who would have been the subject of reports on social networks.

“97% of practitioners who use Doctolib are referenced with the Ministry of Health”, said the company again on Sunday. According to Doctolib, only 3% of its user practitioners are therefore in “the field of well-being or medico-social” (sophrologists, hypnotherapists, naturopaths), activities without regulation and which do not confer the status of health professional, but legal. The appointments made on Doctolib with these actors represent “ 0.3% of the total” volume recorded on the platform, recalled the leader in e-health in Europe.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers One year firm required against a naturopath for illegal practice of medicine

Quoted by The Parisianthe CEO of Doctolib, Stanislas Niox-Chateau, assured on Monday that he was responding to a request from patients and refused to position his site as a simple “Directory of the Ministry of Health” : “The demand is there. It is not up to us to say whether these activities are effective or useful. They are legal, so we have no reason to prevent practitioners from being registered on our site. »

Eventually, the platform committed to conduct “in-depth work on this subject” and promise “concrete measures” coming.

“The process of suspending appointments for certain profiles initiated by Doctolib must absolutely be carried out to the end”reacted on Monday on Twitter Christian Gravel, president of Miviludes, who is proposing a meeting with Doctolib, in order to draw “all useful lessons” of this case.

The world



[ad_2]

Source link