Social Media Claims Can Be Fodder for Litigation

A brouhaha in the St. Louis area should serve as a reminder (to operators, clinicians, and staff) that posts to social media platforms are subject to the same standards of fair comment as statements made in the media or anywhere in public. Saying something perceived as inflammatory or wrongfully derogatory about a local urgent care operator on Facebook, in this case, landed the chair of a local emergency department in court. The issue arose when he made an offhand comment on his personal Facebook page that seemed to imply the urgent care provider conducts CT scans of patients when they’re not called for clinically. The company took umbrage with that, got a temporary restraining order to force him to remove the post, and has since launched a defamation lawsuit.