The magazine "Focus Gesundheit" publishes a list of doctors once a year, which honors top doctors. But this evaluation is not based on the experience of patients or a neutral test. Now a court steps in.
According to a judgment, the awarding of "doctor seals" by a press magazine against payment of license fees violates the ban on misleading. The district court of Munich I granted a corresponding action for an injunction by a consumer protection association, as the court announced. The plaintiff turned against the Burda publishing house, which awards a seal to doctors in the magazine "Focus Gesundheit" under the title "Ärzteliste" for a fee. For a license fee of 2,000 euros, doctors receive a seal that they can use for advertising and, among other things, distinguishes them as "top physicians".
According to the judges, the impression is given that the award-winning doctors "were awarded on the basis of a neutral and professional examination". The impression also arises that they would occupy a "top position among doctors in the same discipline".
However, as the defendant itself stated according to the court, the quality of doctors cannot be determined and compared with measuring devices in the test laboratory. The recommendation list also takes into account subjective criteria, such as recommendations from colleagues or patient satisfaction.
The judges therefore found that the award of the seal of approval was anti-competitive. By awarding the seal, the area of the editorial contribution is misleadingly left and the impression is given that an evaluation is taking place according to objective criteria. According to the judgement, this violates the law on fair trading to mislead. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
Burda announced that the recommendation lists were created by a team of experts in the healthcare sector on the basis of high-quality methodology and were one of the few objective sources of information for patients. The creation of the lists and the ongoing optimization of the methodology are complex and are financed by licensing the logo in the form of the recommendation seal.
